Reggae Star Takes Aim at President Alpha Condé

Ivorian reggae sensation, Tiken Jah Fakoly, has criticised the president of neighbouring Guinea, Alpha Condé, 81, for violating essential freedoms and human rights.

His comments came in the wake of protests that have ravaged Guinea’s capital, Conakry, which saw violent government suppression and the deaths of at least nine people.

The unrest was sparked by moves from Condé looking to amend Guinea’s constitution by removing the constrains placed on presidential term limits.

This spread fear among thousands of people who believed that President Condé would seek to run for a third term next year in 2020.

Tiken Jah Fokoly had previously supported Condé when he was the imprisoned opposition leader in 1998, although he said he has no regrets over doing so: “I thought he was going to be like Nelson Mandela who was in prison for years and when he got out he did one term and then left”.

The singer said there was no way he could have known that “the person I was defending would one day turn [on his own people]”.

A spokesperson for Guinea’s ruling party, Rally of the Guinean People, said they were shocked by the comments, and that Tiken Jah Fakoly had denigrated and insulted the president.