A decree announced on national television on Tuesday announced the appointment of economist and former opposition leader Mamadou Oury Bah to the position of Prime Minister in junta-led Guinea.
Amid an indefinite general strike that was initiated this week, due to severe economic hardships and the military authorities’ purportedly oppressive policies, the veteran politician faces a difficult task in forming a government.
In a video seen on television, Bah took the oath of office in front of Mamady Doumbouya, the acting President. Doumbouya is the Commander of Special Forces who overthrew Alpha Conde in a coup in 2021.
Since the early 1990s, Bah—also referred to as Bah Oury—has been a significant player in Guinean politics. At least 130 people were killed in union-led protests in 2007, which set off a political crisis that led to his appointment as Minister of Reconciliation in a consensus government.
Later, after spending four years in exile in France, the UFDG party’s founder and Vice President was found guilty in absentia of trying to assassinate Conde in 2011.
After receiving a Presidential Pardon in 2016, he went back to Guinea, but UFDG expelled him shortly after. He has come under fire in recent years for his backing of the junta.
