Guinea cuts president’s term to five years in draft constitution

Bloomberg News | July 30, 2024 | 

Aerial view of the Simandou project area. (Image courtesy of Rio Tinto).

Guinea’s military leadership in a draft constitution has proposed reducing presidential terms in the world’s top exporter of bauxite to five years from six and restricting them.


“No one can serve more than two terms as president of the republic in his lifetime,” Jean Paul Kotembedouno, a spokesman for the constitution commission of the National Transition Council, the equivalent of parliament, said at the unveiling of the draft law. Presidential candidates must also be at least 35 years old and not older than 80 years, he said late Monday.

The proposed constitution will replace one dissolved by General Mamadi Doumbouya on seizing power through a coup in September 2021. The putsch followed former President Alpha Conde’s decision to increase presidential terms to six years from five in a constitutional amendment, which also permitted him to seek fresh election after completing his last and second term in 2020.

The draft also comes as calls for protest against the military government have intensified in recent months due to the high cost of living, the junta’s closure of radio and TV stations and the arrest of pro-democracy activists.

The plan, which will be put to a referendum before adoption, also provides for the creation of a senate, a second law-making chamber that will run alongside the National Assembly. It further calls for the establishment of a National Council for Development and a Special Court of Justice.

The new council will consist of former prime ministers and ex-portfolio ministers, who will be consulted on all mining, energy, hydraulic and environmental contracts, Kotembedouno said. The special court will be competent to judge the president in cases of high treason, such as the violation of his oath and the compromise of national interests in the management of natural resources, he said.

If approved the law will ensure that the president’s nominations for the position of central bank governor and deputy are first screened by the senate before their appointment, Kotembedouno said.

In addition to being a major exporter of bauxite, a reddish ore used to produce aluminum, Guinea also has the world’s largest untapped iron ore deposit, which companies including Rio Tinto Plc say they will begin shipping by 2026.

(By Ougna Camara)