For those of you reading my latest blog, please don't worry. I am safe and the police are not targeting the general population. I live in an area that is pretty safe and although sporadic shots are being fired outside my office, the people around me are remaining calm and don't seem too worried which makes me feel better about the whole situation. Its hard to describe this feeling that despite the danger, life goes on. Its such a cliche but its true. What can you do but keep working, keep eating, keep sleeping? Even mundane things happen during extroardinary times. The plumber just called to tell me he found the problem with the water and he's going now to the main market to find the replacement parts. And the electricity just came back so I can send this via internet. This makes me so happy! Life goes on!
I know much of you have images of other war torn African countries but those are not representative of the situation here. In this case, it is a few desperate people crying out for change rather than an organized rebellion like currently in Tchad. If things ever progressed to that level I would leave.
The chanting for the afternoon prayer has begun at the mosque across the street, a welcome sound to counter the noises of guns and violence. I pray that the police too will kneel to the East, and ask Allah to hear their cries and provide respite. Inshallah! (If it pleases God)
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Mutiny! Pass It On
Last week it was the military, this week its the police...next week will it be the people? That is the question running through my head as I hear shots being fired not far from the office. Junior officers revolted a few weeks ago causing panic throughout the capital, looting gas stations and stores, and killing at least 4 people with stray fire and hurting many others. Higher up officers were taken hostage and the city became paralyzed. Gas stations quickly closed leaving most people without transport. Stores were shut and market stalls abandoned. I luckily had gone to the supermarket a few days before and stocked up on pasta and canned goods, and I was able to find one small store open to buy water and milk and other perishables. The mood was tense. From my balcony I could see red lights from larger ammunition fired from the barracks in the downtown area and realized how different and scary it is when you're not watching these lights on TV but they are in front of you in the distance.
The soldiers were mainly in the suburbs in their barracks but there were other soldiers in the downtown section who were also shooting random shots as well as larger ammunition. They had blocked the main entrance to the downtown and were shooting up in the air to deter people from entering the city. They were demanding that their salary arrears be paid, in the amount of 5 million guinean francs, (about US$1000 each), that their comrades be released from prison, that the price of rice (the main food staple) for all soldiers be diminished and that they get an upgrade. Their demands were met. Now, its the police's turn.
As I was heading into town to retrieve my visa extension from immigration so that I could legally stay in the country (what irony) I passed by the main police headquarters and heard shots fired, and saw people running out of the compound. The rest of the city however was functioning normally. At the immigration they told us to leave, that they were closing their offices, due to the police strike that had just been announced. What is so shocking is that life here continues on as normal and what with the soldiers striking a few weeks ago, and the national 2 month strike of last year where protesters were shot dead in the streets, people now seem almost blase about the current events. After the immigration office, I went to look for cloth to cover my couch, and hoped that the police would quiet down after letting off some steam. It seems unimaginable when reading about protests and demonstrations and shots being fired that life would continue on as normal but there I was shopping for fabric as if nothing was out of the ordinary, worrying about the lack of running water in my apartment building and hoping that tonight we would get the electricity early.
There are so many things to worry about, with the most important being daily survival, that such actions by the police seem to just be one more thing to add to the long list of problems that this country faces. After 3 weeks without running water in a 4 floor apt building, (I'm on the second floor) I too am beginning to understand the frustration and anger that will drive people to the streets to demand a humane and decent way of life. I will probably never truly understand the depth of desperation that will bring people to the point of willing to die for change but that was the motto last year of the youth who led the demonstrations demanding the removal of the president, regular electricity and water, and REAL CHANGE.
A minimum of 100 people died last year during the state of emergency that was imposed by the government after people were demonstrating. A curfew was put into effect and most people stayed in their homes for one month, venturing out only to get some food and water. Soldiers routinely invaded people's homes, stealing their belongings and raping women. Many other soldiers looted stores and terrorized people in the streets. When the unions, who were leading the nationwide strike, led a major demonstration march through the city, soldiers fired into the crowds, and those behind the wounded and dead caught them and carried them along with the wave of thousands upon thousands of protesters.
I am always interested in what sparks such mass protest. When is enough enough? In the case of Guinea, it was the release of one of the most corrupt men in Guinea by General Conte, who is the "elected" president. His good friend, a major businessman, had finally been charged with corruption charges and put in jail and then was released by the President. This launched a major uproar from the general population, which led to the major union groups calling for everyone to strike against the government. Throughout the country, stores, offices, everything was closed and government offices were looted and burned. After the initial protests, the General, named a new Prime Minister to lead a new government, which was one of the demands of the unions, but he named a close friend to the post, which set off another round of protests and mass demonstrations. Finally, the President named a consensus Prime Minister, and things calmed down, however this new Prime Minister, one year later has been a major letdown. He was completely ineffectual in achieving any meaningful change but rather heartily took part in the corrupt system and about a month ago he was sacked. A new one was named and this is what caused the soldiers to mutiny against the new government, since their requests from last year to the consensus Prime Minister now had to be heard with the latest PM.
Conte has been President since 1984 and has let this country degrade to the point where people have not had electricity and/or running water for the past 5 years in certain parts of the capital. He has enriched himself and his friends and openly prides himself on his corrupt ways. For those of my generation who grew up in the West, it is hard to imagine a country going backward, slowly disintegrating and falling apart, but that is what it seems to be like. Why this is happening is complex: corruption, instability in the region, demographic growth continually out pacing economic growth, colonialist heritage, etc etc. What is clear is that people are fed up, and they wonder what their brothers died for last year.
As oil and food prices continue to rise, the desperation will continue to increase. Oil prices rose 60% here last month from the fixed government price that had kept oil prices low but was causing friction with IMF policies and wreaking havoc with the exchange rate. Food and transportation prices rose accordingly. Now one of the poorest countries in the world has become even poorer.
The shots continue outside my office. I am still amazed that we continue to work, to cook, to move about while this is going on outside. The police protests are not as bad as the soldiers who were much more heavily armed and greater in numbers so I am not too worried. What makes me anxious is what will happen afterwards. If the military start reigning in the police, despite the fact that just a few weeks ago they were the ones rebelling, it could cause major strife between the civil society and the military and government. Most people hate the military for what they did last year. If the police are now against them, the situation can only worsen. I'm trying to stay optimistic that this rebellion will be quelled by meeting the demands of the police which, to no one's surprise, are identical to the soldiers, ie payment of salary arrears etc. However, what happens next? The government cannot meet the demands of the people so what will the people do? I fear they will want to finish what they started last year and through any means achieve the change they so desire.
The soldiers were mainly in the suburbs in their barracks but there were other soldiers in the downtown section who were also shooting random shots as well as larger ammunition. They had blocked the main entrance to the downtown and were shooting up in the air to deter people from entering the city. They were demanding that their salary arrears be paid, in the amount of 5 million guinean francs, (about US$1000 each), that their comrades be released from prison, that the price of rice (the main food staple) for all soldiers be diminished and that they get an upgrade. Their demands were met. Now, its the police's turn.
As I was heading into town to retrieve my visa extension from immigration so that I could legally stay in the country (what irony) I passed by the main police headquarters and heard shots fired, and saw people running out of the compound. The rest of the city however was functioning normally. At the immigration they told us to leave, that they were closing their offices, due to the police strike that had just been announced. What is so shocking is that life here continues on as normal and what with the soldiers striking a few weeks ago, and the national 2 month strike of last year where protesters were shot dead in the streets, people now seem almost blase about the current events. After the immigration office, I went to look for cloth to cover my couch, and hoped that the police would quiet down after letting off some steam. It seems unimaginable when reading about protests and demonstrations and shots being fired that life would continue on as normal but there I was shopping for fabric as if nothing was out of the ordinary, worrying about the lack of running water in my apartment building and hoping that tonight we would get the electricity early.
There are so many things to worry about, with the most important being daily survival, that such actions by the police seem to just be one more thing to add to the long list of problems that this country faces. After 3 weeks without running water in a 4 floor apt building, (I'm on the second floor) I too am beginning to understand the frustration and anger that will drive people to the streets to demand a humane and decent way of life. I will probably never truly understand the depth of desperation that will bring people to the point of willing to die for change but that was the motto last year of the youth who led the demonstrations demanding the removal of the president, regular electricity and water, and REAL CHANGE.
A minimum of 100 people died last year during the state of emergency that was imposed by the government after people were demonstrating. A curfew was put into effect and most people stayed in their homes for one month, venturing out only to get some food and water. Soldiers routinely invaded people's homes, stealing their belongings and raping women. Many other soldiers looted stores and terrorized people in the streets. When the unions, who were leading the nationwide strike, led a major demonstration march through the city, soldiers fired into the crowds, and those behind the wounded and dead caught them and carried them along with the wave of thousands upon thousands of protesters.
I am always interested in what sparks such mass protest. When is enough enough? In the case of Guinea, it was the release of one of the most corrupt men in Guinea by General Conte, who is the "elected" president. His good friend, a major businessman, had finally been charged with corruption charges and put in jail and then was released by the President. This launched a major uproar from the general population, which led to the major union groups calling for everyone to strike against the government. Throughout the country, stores, offices, everything was closed and government offices were looted and burned. After the initial protests, the General, named a new Prime Minister to lead a new government, which was one of the demands of the unions, but he named a close friend to the post, which set off another round of protests and mass demonstrations. Finally, the President named a consensus Prime Minister, and things calmed down, however this new Prime Minister, one year later has been a major letdown. He was completely ineffectual in achieving any meaningful change but rather heartily took part in the corrupt system and about a month ago he was sacked. A new one was named and this is what caused the soldiers to mutiny against the new government, since their requests from last year to the consensus Prime Minister now had to be heard with the latest PM.
Conte has been President since 1984 and has let this country degrade to the point where people have not had electricity and/or running water for the past 5 years in certain parts of the capital. He has enriched himself and his friends and openly prides himself on his corrupt ways. For those of my generation who grew up in the West, it is hard to imagine a country going backward, slowly disintegrating and falling apart, but that is what it seems to be like. Why this is happening is complex: corruption, instability in the region, demographic growth continually out pacing economic growth, colonialist heritage, etc etc. What is clear is that people are fed up, and they wonder what their brothers died for last year.
As oil and food prices continue to rise, the desperation will continue to increase. Oil prices rose 60% here last month from the fixed government price that had kept oil prices low but was causing friction with IMF policies and wreaking havoc with the exchange rate. Food and transportation prices rose accordingly. Now one of the poorest countries in the world has become even poorer.
The shots continue outside my office. I am still amazed that we continue to work, to cook, to move about while this is going on outside. The police protests are not as bad as the soldiers who were much more heavily armed and greater in numbers so I am not too worried. What makes me anxious is what will happen afterwards. If the military start reigning in the police, despite the fact that just a few weeks ago they were the ones rebelling, it could cause major strife between the civil society and the military and government. Most people hate the military for what they did last year. If the police are now against them, the situation can only worsen. I'm trying to stay optimistic that this rebellion will be quelled by meeting the demands of the police which, to no one's surprise, are identical to the soldiers, ie payment of salary arrears etc. However, what happens next? The government cannot meet the demands of the people so what will the people do? I fear they will want to finish what they started last year and through any means achieve the change they so desire.
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