VZCZCXRO7869
OO RUEHPA
DE RUEHRY #0362/01 0871418
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 281418Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY CONAKRY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0890
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE//POLAD/J2// IMMEDIATE
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 CONAKRY 000362 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
TREASURY FOR OFFICE OF AFRICAN NATIONS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/28/2017 
TAGS: PGOV ELAB PINS GV
SUBJECT: WAITING GAME PARALYZES KEY INSTITUTIONS BUT MAY BE 
APPROACHING AN END 
 
REF: A. CONAKRY 342 
 
     ¶B. CONAKRY 333 
 
Classified By: Political Officer Jessica Davis Ba. Reasons 1.4 (b) and 
(d). 
 
¶1.  (C) SUMMARY.  As all of Guinea waits for the announcement 
of a new cabinet, the justice system, educational 
institutions, Guinea's union coalition and government offices 
are paralyzed.  That announcement is rumored to be as 
imminent as the evening of March 28, as some sources now 
contend that President Conte has signed a government list. 
If true, it will not come a moment too soon.  After more than 
four weeks as Prime Minister (Ref A), Lansana Kouyate's 
popular credibility has begun to fray, as fingers are pointed 
at President Conte as an insuperable obstacle.  Many were 
disappointed as ECOWAS envoy and former President Babangida 
came and left without a resolution.  Frustrations are 
beginning to bubble up in the interior, as evidenced by 
protests by university students in Labe on March 26.  With 
key union leaders in Geneva at international conferences, 
however, Guinea's trade unions have not mobilized to demand 
immediate appointments.  If the announcement comes on March 
28, Guinea will move quickly to assess whether the new 
government meets popular demands.  If no announcement is 
forthcoming, the ship of state will continue to drift, and 
tensions will only rise.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (C) Information received March 28 seems to confirm that 
President Conte has signed a decree naming a new "government 
of consensus" and that the decree will be published on the 
evening news.  If true, Guineans will be united in pouring 
over the new roster to determine whether it meets their 
demands for a break with the past and their hopes for a 
better future.  If not, meetings held with contacts over the 
last few days paint a picture of gloom and concern. 
 
------------------------------------------- 
Babangida Comes and Goes with No Resolution 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) While Guineans remain hopeful, patience appears to 
be nearing its end.  On March 22, ECOWAS envoy and former 
Nigerian President Ibrahim Babangida arrived in Conakry with 
ECOWAS Commission President Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas.  The 
ECOWAS delegation (initially expected to come a week earlier 
but put off due to the Wade visit) was welcomed with open 
arms by union, civil society, and religious leaders who 
believed that their presence would herald the announcement of 
a new government.  As in his previous visit in February, 
Babangida called the non-governmental leaders into 
consultative meetings where they aired concerns and hopes 
that Conte would uphold his promise for a consensus 
government.  Our sources told us that the meetings were 
productive and Babangida listened attentively to their 
perspectives. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) On March 23, the ECOWAS delegation met formally 
with Prime Minister Kouyate and President Conte.  We 
understand that in the meeting with Conte, only the Prime 
Minister, Babangida, and Chambas were present.  An ECOWAS 
ambassador close to Chambas told the Ambassador that Conte 
promised to "follow the ECOWAS recommendations."  Babangida 
was presented with honorary Guinean citizenship and a Guinean 
passport, but left without a concrete resolution.  Taibou 
Diallo, a member of the union coalition Executive Committee, 
told Poloff that union leaders were disappointed after 
Babangida said, "There have been countless missions to Cote 
d'Ivoire and the situation is not yet solved."  The union 
leadership admitted they were losing faith in Babangida as 
the "moral guarantor" of Conte's promises, as the former 
Nigerian president left without any resultant action or even 
a return date. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
Bar Association Extends Strike to Protest Impunity 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) On February 12, during the general strike, members 
of Guinea's Bar Association suspended their participation in 
court proceedings to protest the corruption and impunity in 
the judicial system.  Representing Guinea's 200 attorneys who 
do not work as government prosecutors or judges, the Bar 
Association is one of Guinea's most influential professional 
organizations.  Its current president, Boubakar Sow, told 
poloff on March 27 that the Bar Association initially 
launched its strike to lend support to the popular labor 
movement.  The Bar Association made political demands from 
 
CONAKRY 00000362  002 OF 003 
 
 
the beginning, accusing the Ministry of Justice, state 
prosecutors, and judges of deforming Guinea's judicial system 
and turning it into one where justice is bought and sold. 
Sow said that every single decision and case is impacted by 
corruption, ignorance of the law, and total disregard for the 
judicial process.  He added that although it is illegal, the 
courts are still operating during the Bar Association strike, 
convicting citizens without the legal representation they are 
guaranteed under law.  Sow said that while this is 
unfortunate, the sacrifice is necessary to draw attention to 
the compounded crisis within the legal system. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) After recent episodes of civil unrest, the 
government of Guinea promised to bring perpetrators of 
killings, violence, looting and property damage to justice. 
Sow said the investigations are farcical.  While the Ministry 
of Justice has opened cases and investigations around the 
country for the June 2006 and January and February 2007 
killings, it has yet to match a single individual to the 
"suspect x" in each of the cases.  By contrast, Sow confirms 
that hundreds of citizens have been arrested for alleged 
property crimes.  While some remain in custody, many were 
released after paying the appropriate bribe to the 
appropriate official.  Sow maintains the national inquiry 
opened to investigate crimes during the strike and state of 
siege has done nothing to deliver justice and that the 
union's participation in the inquiry oversight commission 
caused "cold feelings" between the union coalition and the 
Bar Association.  Sow told us that after attorneys received 
no response from the government to their demands on March 20, 
the association members, led by the young attorneys, voted 
overwhelmingly to continue their strike indefinitely. 
 
 
--------------------------------- 
Restless Students Protest in Labe 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Frustration with the lack of movement has bubbled 
up into at least one of Guinea's schools.  On March 26, 
student representatives from the University of Labe 
approached the university's director demanding better quality 
professors, better living conditions in the dormitories, and 
that university staffing to be routed through the Ministry of 
Labor, rather than handled by the director himself.  Like 
university students in all regions of Guinea, the 
institution's approximately 3000 students began the academic 
year late ) in November rather than October.  Christmas 
break and the strikes in January and February left classes 
empty until very recently.  As Labe's students began their 
studies, they found many of the professors to be 
unknowledgable and incapable of instructing them.  The 
majority of the teachers are part-time, temporary lecturers 
hired by the director.  The director allegedly collects 10 
percent of the professors' salaries in exchange for giving 
them jobs.  Some lecturers reportedly lack even a high school 
education, but were appointed professors because they are 
friends and distant relatives of the director.  The students 
gave no deadline by which their demands must be met but 
physically harassed the director and threatened him with 
violence if conditions do not improve.  At present, the 
situation is calm, and there are no immediate signs that 
students are organizing protests at any other institutions. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
Unions Have Not Mobilized to Demand a Deadline 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶8.  (C) In the continued waiting game, Guinea's key unions 
leaders, including CNTG General Secretary Rabiatou Serah 
Diallo and USTG General Secretary Ibrahim Fofana departed 
Guinea for an international labor conference in Geneva.  They 
departed Conakry on March 24 and are scheduled to return on 
March 31. Union contacts told us the executive committee 
remains in contact with one another, although it has held no 
recent meetings.  They said that while they have set no 
imminent deadlines for a new government, their membership is 
urging them to do so.  Taibou Diallo asserted that the change 
process is far from over; with or without Rabiatou Diallo or 
Fofana present, the unions remain ready to mobilize.  At the 
same time, Taibou conceded that any organized action would 
take some time to announce and carry out.  She reminded 
Poloff that after the February 9 announcement of Eugene 
Camara, it was not the unions that made the call that led to 
some of the most violent protests that rocked Guinea. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
Government Offices Continue to Hemorrhage Resources 
 
CONAKRY 00000362  003 OF 003 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶9.  (C) As reported previously (Ref B), government offices 
have become the playground of ministers and their staff who 
are on their way out the door, and who are making a mad grab 
to take with them everything they can steal.  Kouyate's 
efforts to guard state resources have made it more difficult 
for lower-level ministers and government officials to take 
money from the Central Bank.  However, those closest to Conte 
still have unfettered access to money.  Baidy Aribot, 
director of the Central Bank's currency exchange division, 
told Econoff that Moussa Solano, Minister of Territorial 
Administration and Decentralization, continues to collect 
money for himself and for Conte, at Conte's behest. 
Meanwhile, most ministries are only marginally functioning. 
Secretary General Bailo Diallo of the Ministry of Territorial 
 
SIPDIS 
Administration and Decentralization told Poloff that his 
ministry is delivering "minimum service," but that all are 
just waiting for the announcement of the new cabinet of 
ministers.  When asked if he had any idea what it might come, 
Diallo told us, "I am far, far away from any decisions that 
are being made now ) your guess may be better than mine." 
Over the last week, this sentiment has been echoed by many of 
our key contacts, insiders across ministries who are now 
purposefully distancing themselves from present activities. 
Those who are usually full of information are hesitant to 
speak, and all contend they are playing no role in the 
formation of a new government. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶10.  (C) Our interlocutors have continued to repeat the 
refrain that they want change, but many appear lost as to 
next steps should President Conte not name a new government 
very soon.  They have set no formal deadlines, and there are 
no protests being planned by either the unions or civil 
society.  There is growing recognition that "Conte is the 
problem" and the cause of delays in naming the new 
government, though Prime Minister Kouyate insists that Conte 
is not constraining him.  In a sign that the much-vaunted 
patience and endurance of Guineans is a thing of the past, 
many Guineans are already openly questioning if Kouyate is 
the right man for the job.  With Kouyate planning to travel 
to Dakar for Wade's inauguration, he must quickly obtain 
Conte's approval of a new cabinet or leave the country 
chagrined as head of a non-existent government. 
MCDONALD