CONAKRY, Guinea — Guinea’s former coup leader Mamady Doumbouya has been elected president, according to provisional results announced on Tuesday, completing the country’s transition back to civilian rule more than three years after the military takeover.
The provisional results show Doumbouya winning 86.72pc of the vote in the December 28 presidential election, securing an outright majority and avoiding a runoff.
The Supreme Court has up to eight days to validate the results in the event of a legal challenge.
Doumbouya, a former special forces commander believed to be in his early 40s, seized power in September 2021 after overthrowing then-president Alpha Condé, who had ruled since 2010.
The takeover was part of a wave of military coups that have reshaped politics across West and Central Africa since 2020, including in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.
His victory had been widely anticipated. Guinea’s main political heavyweights, including Condé and long-time opposition leader Cellou Dalein Diallo, remain in exile, leaving Doumbouya to face a fragmented field of eight challengers.
Announcing the results late Tuesday, Guinea’s top election official Djenabou Touré said voter turnout stood at 80.95pc. However, participation appeared low in parts of the capital, Conakry, and opposition figures questioned the credibility of the turnout figures, echoing similar objections raised after the September constitutional referendum.
That referendum proved pivotal. Guinea’s original post-coup charter barred members of the ruling junta from contesting elections, but a new constitution approved in September removed those restrictions, clearing the way for Doumbouya to run — a reversal of his earlier pledge not to seek elected office.
If confirmed, Doumbouya will serve a seven-year term, consolidating his grip on power in a country that holds the world’s largest bauxite reserves and one of its richest untapped iron ore deposits at Simandou.
The Simandou iron ore project, officially launched last month after years of delays, has featured prominently in Doumbouya’s campaign narrative. He has claimed credit for reviving the project and ensuring that Guinea secures greater benefits from its vast mineral wealth.
His administration has also taken a more assertive stance toward foreign mining firms. Earlier this year, the government revoked the licence of Guinea Alumina Corporation, a subsidiary of Emirates Global Aluminium, following a dispute over refinery obligations, transferring the assets to a state-owned company.
That turn toward resource nationalism has resonated with many Guineans and mirrors policies adopted by other military-led governments in the region.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said last week that the campaign period was “severely restricted,” citing intimidation of opposition actors, alleged politically motivated enforced disappearances, and constraints on media freedom.
Opposition candidate Faya Lansana Millimono on Monday rejected the conduct of the vote, alleging “systematic fraudulent practices” and claiming that election observers were prevented from monitoring voting and vote-counting processes.
The government did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the allegations.
As Guinea awaits the Supreme Court’s validation of the results, Doumbouya’s election underscores the complex trajectory of post-coup transitions in Africa’s mineral-rich states — balancing popular support rooted in economic nationalism against persistent concerns over democratic space, civil liberties and long-term political stability.
