Downtown Africa
President Alpha Condé was re-elected on 18 October 2020 for a new term of office, ushering in the fourth republic. He introduced new working and administrative practices designed to render the functioning of the Guinean state even more efficient than before.
In early February 2021, President Alpha Condé made a public speech announcing the implementation of an administrative pact based on the principle of “governing differently” that provides a roadmap for the Guinean people. This new style of governance has already resulted in several symbolic acts such as the Guinean president’s unannounced visits to certain state departments, ministries, financial authorities, and public establishments to assess the punctuality of some heads of department. Some state officials who were not in the office at the time of one such surprise visit were caught out (and sanctioned), while the heads of ministerial departments, starting with the Ministers, were called upon to shoulder all their responsibilities to ensure the proper execution and follow-up of administrative tasks.
The measures cover the effective presence of public service employees in workplaces and by legal hours, prohibiting personal visits during working hours to reduce the excessive numbers of outsiders, and banning television sets in offices. A ministerial circular in this regard states that department heads must ensure that all entertainment applications on all public computers are uninstalled and banned, for example, the Solitaire card game and the Zuma Deluxe maze game. The Minister of the Public Service has instructed each civil servant to respect their working hours from 8 a.m. to 4.30 p.m., under penalty of sanctions provided for in the Labour Code.
The other symbolic act of this presidential pledge was the Ministry of the City and Housing’s decision to put an end to all illegal use of public roads, which can be seen in the numerous street clearance operations in various districts of the capital where illegal constructions and extensions sometimes make the pedestrian walkways unusable. The Guinean president believes that the main aim is to bring added value to the public policy undertaken since this first decade of office, for the improvement of good governance in all sectors of government activity. These activities concern reforms conducive to the revitalization of the economic policy contained in the Mission Letter of Prime Minister Ibrahima Kassory Fofana who was reappointed to office. This new mission commences with the restructuring of the administration, essential to the promotion of sound management.
The government’s main concern is fighting corruption, financial embezzlement, and misappropriation of public funds. This is why the principle of “governing differently” calls for the reform of public procurement and the mechanisms for awarding public contracts and state contracts. From now on, all companies providing goods and services will be screened. Those that are linked to ministers, senior state officials, public administration, or to the families of public decision-makers will be identified and disqualified from the contracting and public procurement process to avoid any conflict of interest in the administration. This decision is seen as a useful formula for controlling state expenditure to increase public revenue, with the systematization of controls and audits of public agencies and the digitalization of state operations. It will also involve the operationalization of controls and audits on resources allocated to local authorities and communities at the grassroots level.
In the current administration mandate, several measures are being taken to improve the country’s economic life such as the transformation of the road network (urban and rural roads), the construction of new railways, and a commitment to a better quality of life in the Conakry special zone. In the Guinean capital, projects will focus on the construction of a modern administrative city in Koloma, a suburb of Conakry, and the organization of a large-scale hygiene campaign in the city. Conakry’s makeover will include major works to ensure the smooth flow of road traffic, as well as the expansion of the port, the modernization of the airport, and the construction of offices and hotels. All this infrastructure will be used to welcome the players and participants of the Africa Cup of Nations to be held in Guinea in 2025.
