Guinea has dissolved 40 political parties, including the country’s three main opposition groups, in a late-night government decree issued less than two months after Mamady Doumbouya was sworn in as president.

 

 

 

The decision was announced by the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation, which said the parties were dissolved for “failure to fulfil their obligations”. The decree immediately stripped the affected parties of their legal status and control over their assets.

 

 

“This dissolution entails the immediate loss of the legal personality and status of the parties concerned,” the order stated. The directive also bans the parties from carrying out political activities or using their names, logos, emblems and other identifying symbols.

 

 

Among the parties dissolved are the country’s three major opposition groups: the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea led by Cellou Dalein Diallo, the Rally of the People of Guinea associated with former president Alpha Conde, and the Union of Republican Forces.

 

 

The decree added that the parties’ assets had been placed under sequestration, with a curator appointed to oversee their transfer, although it did not specify who would ultimately take control of the properties.

 

 

Doumbouya, 41, first came to power in 2021 after overthrowing Alpha Condé, Guinea’s first democratically elected president.

 

 

He later consolidated power and was elected in December in a controversial vote from which major opposition figures were barred. Since taking power, Doumbouya’s government has faced criticism for restricting civil liberties, banning protests and cracking down on political opponents.

 

 

Several opposition figures have reportedly been arrested, put on trial or forced into exile, while rights groups have raised concerns about alleged enforced disappearances and kidnappings. Guinea has experienced repeated periods of military and authoritarian rule since gaining independence from France in 1958.