President of Guinea appeals to the international community on the problems affecting Africa
Speech by Mamadi Doumbouya, President of Guinea, at the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly. teleSUR
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00:00 (In French.)
00:08 Mr. President, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, heads of delegations, Mr. Secretary General,
00:22 at the outset, Mr. President, I would like to extend the warm congratulations of the
00:30 Guinean delegation on your brilliant election to the presidency of the 78th session of the
00:42 United Nations General Assembly.
00:48 Before this guest assembly, I would also like to assure you of my country's support.
00:58 I take this opportunity to also pay a well-deserved tribute to your predecessor, Mr. Szabó Korosi
01:07 of Hungary.
01:11 To Mr. Secretary General António Guterres, I extend my gratitude for the dedication with
01:20 which he leads our organization.
01:24 Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, in coming to take part in the work of the 78th regular
01:35 session of the General Assembly, I am fulfilling a duty that of conveying the warm greetings
01:47 of the sovereign people of Guinea.
01:52 My country continues to place hope in the United Nations to find appropriate solutions
02:04 to the issues our world continues to face.
02:12 In this context, Mr. President, we believe that the fundamentals which underpinned the
02:19 creation of our organization must adapt to the profound changes in our society.
02:35 The theme of this session, peace, prosperity, progress, and sustainability, is topical,
02:48 evocative, and deserves particular attention on our part.
02:57 There is a coup epidemic in Africa.
03:02 During the COVID-19 pandemic, the continent has been hit by an epidemic of military putsches,
03:11 particularly in the French-speaking country south of the Sahara.
03:19 Everyone condemns them, sanctions them, is disturbed by the sudden resurgence of this
03:27 phenomenon that we had thought was a thing of the past, and rightly so.
03:36 But what I wish to say is that the international community must have the honesty and the rectitude
03:44 to not content itself simply with denouncing the consequences.
03:50 Rather, it must look to and address the causes.
03:59 Coups d'etat have multiplied in Africa in recent years because there are deep-rooted
04:06 reasons for this.
04:09 And to remedy the problem, ladies and gentlemen, we must look at these root causes.
04:19 The putschist is not only the person who takes up arms to overthrow a regime.
04:27 I want us all to be well aware of the fact that the real putschists, the most numerous
04:35 and those who avoid any condemnation, are also those who plot and scheme, who use trickery,
04:45 who cheat to manipulate the text of the Constitution in order to stay in power eternally.
04:58 It is those in white-collar jobs who change the rules of the game as the game unfolds
05:04 in order to keep the reins of power in their hands.
05:07 These are the most numerous kinds of putschists.
05:12 Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, I am one of those who one day decided to shoulder
05:23 our responsibility to prevent our country from slipping into complete chaos, into an
05:32 insurrection.
05:35 No political forces at the time had the courage nor the means to put an end to the duplicity
05:47 that we were experiencing, as they were all completely neutralized back then.
05:52 The institutional correction for which my brothers in arms and I took responsibility
05:58 on September 5, 2021, was only a consequence of that chaotic situation which had ended
06:09 up tearing apart the social fabric of my country and undermining our coexistence.
06:19 This is not an exhaustive list, but we believe that the transitions underway in Africa are
06:26 due to several factors, including broken promises, the lethargy of the people, and leaders tampering
06:42 with constitutions with the sole concern of remaining in power to the detriment of collective
06:50 well-being.
06:51 Today, the African people are more awake than ever and more than ever determined to take
07:02 their destiny into their own hands.
07:06 The unequal distribution of wealth creates endless inequalities, famine and abject poverty,
07:16 which make the daily lives of our populations increasingly difficult.
07:22 These inequalities are part of the causes for the events that endanger our peaceful
07:34 coexistence above all.
07:38 When the wealth of a country is in the hands of an elite, while newborns die in hospitals
07:46 due to a lack of incubators, it is not surprising that in such conditions we are seeing transitions
07:58 in order to respond to the profound aspirations of the people.
08:02 Africa, ladies and gentlemen, is suffering from a governance model that has been imposed
08:10 on it, a model that is certainly good and effective for the West, which developed it
08:20 over the course of its history, but which is difficult to incorporate and adapt to our
08:28 realities, our customs and our environment.
08:34 Alas, I have to say that the graft did not take.
08:41 I know that when I say this, many will immediately say to themselves, "Oh, another warmonger
08:50 who wants to wring the neck of democracy, or another soldier who wants to impose his
08:56 dictatorship."
08:57 However, I want to say very clearly, without hypocrisy, without pretense, eye to eye, we
09:10 are all aware that this democratic model that you have so insidiously, skillfully imposed
09:22 on us after the La Bolle summit in France, something you have been imposing almost religiously,
09:31 this model does not work.
09:35 These economic and social indices demonstrate this plain and clear.
09:40 This is not a value judgment on democracy itself.
09:49 Believe me, this is just taking stock of the situation.
09:55 It's a balance sheet.
09:56 Over several decades of chaotic experimentation with this model in our environment, we can
10:04 make this observation.
10:05 This was a period full of nothing but political games.
10:11 And this, of course, has been to the detriment of what is essential, namely the economy and
10:19 the local processing of our natural resources.
10:25 Allow me to take this truth exercise a little further.
10:30 Through my short but very intense experience of managing a state, Guinea, I have come to
10:36 better understand the extent to which this model has, above all, contributed to maintaining
10:46 a system of exploitation and plunder of our resources by others, and a rampant corruption
10:56 of our elites.
11:01 National leaders who have often been granted democratic labels based on their acquiescence
11:15 or their capacity for selling off the resources and the property of their people, or perhaps
11:24 their ease in giving in to the suitor recommendations and injunctions of the great powers.
11:38 I must confess in this regard that everything that I am facing goes beyond all imagination.
11:52 These are the same people who profess democracy, transparency, who denounce poor governance
12:02 and corruption, who dictate the rules.
12:04 It is they who, behind the scenes, very discreetly and underhandedly, are increasing pressure
12:13 to make us cede our national wealth through unconscionable union contracts.
12:19 I understand certain leaders and some of my predecessors who, because they possessed certain
12:30 weaknesses, because they were under pressure, or because they had skeletons in their closets,
12:36 or particularly because they had a political agenda, gave in to what was being asked of
12:44 them.
12:46 I understand them, even if I do not approve.
12:50 In some cases, I was even reminded that if I had a political agenda, I would be less
12:57 comfortable carrying out the reforms that my government and I are tackling.
13:07 One thing is certain.
13:11 We have but one concern, and that is the well-being of the people and living together.
13:18 This is our priority.
13:22 This is why the transition I lead has chosen to focus methodically on clear objectives
13:33 in a precise order – the social, the economic, and the political.
13:47 Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, I wear my uniform in service to my people.
13:58 I would be grateful if you would respect that oath – an oath to keep ourselves a respectable
14:05 distance from divisions of all kinds that many attempt to fuel in our countries.
14:14 The Sahel is undergoing one of the most serious crises in its very long history, but it has
14:25 the resources that are required to face it.
14:29 Its legendary sense of diplomacy must be unleashed so that we can speak to each other without
14:39 interference.
14:41 It is for this reason that ECOWAS, whose vocation was economic, has stopped getting involved
14:53 in politics and favored dialogue.
15:00 The African people are tired, exhausted by the categorizations with which everyone wants
15:10 to box us in.
15:19 Africa's population is young.
15:23 It did not experience the Cold War.
15:27 It did not experience the ideological wars that have shaped the world over the last 70
15:36 years.
15:38 That is why we Africans are insulted by the boxes, the categories, which sometimes place
15:49 us under the influence of the Americans, sometimes under that of the British, sometimes the French,
15:59 the Chinese, or the Russians, and even the Turks.
16:06 We are neither pro- nor anti-American.
16:10 We are neither pro- nor anti-Chinese, nor pro- or anti-French, nor pro- or anti-Russian,
16:22 nor pro- or anti-Turkish.
16:26 We are simply pro-African.
16:28 That is all.
16:41 Placing us under the influence of this or that power is an insult.
16:48 It is contempt and racism towards a continent of more than 1,300,000,000 people.
17:00 It is important that in this prestigious and influential Assembly we understand clearly
17:08 and definitively that the era of the old Africa is over.
17:21 With a population of more than 1,000,000,000 Africans, around 70% of whom are young people,
17:33 young people who are completely free, open-minded, open to the world, and determined to take
17:38 their destiny into their own hands.
17:42 The time has come to realize that the structures, the rules from the post-war era established
17:53 in the absence of our states, which did not yet exist at the time, are obsolete.
18:00 This is the end of an unbalanced and unjust era where we had no say in the matter.
18:11 It is time to take our rights into account and to let us take our proper place.
18:17 But also and above all, it is time to stop lecturing us and to stop treating us with
18:27 condescension like children.
18:32 Rest assured that we are old enough to know what is good for us.
18:45 We are mature enough to define our priorities, to design our own models which are in line
18:54 with our identity, the daily reality of our countries and our populations, in line with
19:03 what we are, quite simply.
19:06 We would be very grateful to you if you trust us and let us run our business as you have
19:17 allowed in certain regions of the world, as you have allowed in Asia, in the Near and
19:24 the Middle East, to cite only a few.
19:29 This infantilization that we have experienced has had the worst effects on African youth
19:38 who are now emancipated.
19:43 In this context, we are all challenged and called upon to carry out a better analysis
19:51 of the situation with a view to initiating and pursuing new policies for the benefit
19:56 of all.
19:59 The international community must look to Africa with new eyes.
20:07 It must now engage in genuine cooperation with Africa in a spirit of win-win partnership.
20:18 I thank you for your attention.
20:21 Thank you.
20:22 (Applause.)
20:22 (audience applauding)