In Guinea, more than 50 deaths were recorded on Sunday (01.12) in N’Zérékoré, in the south of the country, following a fatal stampede that occurred on the sidelines of a final of a Football tournament dedicated to the leader of the ruling junta, General Mamadi Doumbouya.
The toll could rise further, according to witnesses on site. For the National Front for the Defense of the Constitution, it is Mamadi Doumbouya’s desire to run in the next presidential election which is the basis of this tragedy.
The opposition thus denounces the consequence of several months of “propaganda” carried out in favor of the general.
Football tournaments across the country
Since September 2024, football tournaments in support of the transitional president have multiplied in several regions and large cities of the country, such as Labé, Télimélé, Kissidougou and Mamou.
The finals of these different football tournaments organized by the prefectural youth directorates and other movements of support for Mamadi Doumbouya were chaired by ministers, or influential members of the National Committee for Rally and Development, the name of the ruling junta.
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If in these aforementioned localities, despite a certain citizen reluctance, no major incident has been recorded, this is therefore not the case in N’Zérékoré.
The final of the tournament with the general Mamadi Doumbouya trophy pitted the Labé team against that of N’Zérékoré, clashes broke out following protests from Labé supporters and the consequences were dramatic.
“It was the save-who-can”
Fecely Konaté, journalist based in N’Zérékoré, says that “in the stadium, it was all he could do. Some tried to climb the wall to get out and that’s where there were cases of injuries and deaths. The government reports 56 dead, but the toll could rise Until then, there are families who continue to search for the bodies of their loved ones. I come from the hospital where there are still many families mobilized. the city is militarized because the urban police station was set on fire by young demonstrators”.
The National Front for the Defense of the Constitution and the National Alliance for Democratic Change, Anad, hold responsible for the tragedy of N’Zérékoré “the members of the Guinean government, but also General Mamadi Doumbouya” whom they accuse of campaigning, through these mobilizations, to run in the next presidential election.
