General Strike, Consolidation in Bamako

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After my holiday vacation, I returned to Kourou and taught for all of two days before a national strike was called on January 10. The strike originally involved the two major trade unions in Guinea and was precipitated by the government’s failure to pay its contractual workers for several months. In general, Guineans are dissatisfied with the high cost of living, rampant corruption in the government, and overall poverty.

The unions considered striking in mid December but decided to wait until after the holidays. In the meantime, the country’s disaffection with its leadership only grew. Word got around about a recent study by Transparency International that ranked Guinea as the most corrupt country in Africa, second only to Haiti for most corrupt in the world. The Fete de Tabaski came and went, for which Guineans habitually spend too much money, leaving them poorer and more desperate at the start of the new year. President Lansana Conte managed to worsen his reputation when he ordered the release of two cronies from prison who had been caught stealing millions of dollars in foreign aid money.

These things strengthened the strike and soon long-silent opposition political parties had joined the protests. That Saturday, President Conte met with union leaders who had suddenly become very powerful. Instead of merely demanding salary hikes, they demanded that Conte step down. They insisted that he was too old and sick to actually govern, and that they were fed up with the corrupt regime.

For the next week or so neither side budged. Demonstrations took place in most major cities, demanding the end of the regime. Many protestors were arrested and military gunfire became quite common in Conakry. About 40 people were killed, mostly in Conakry. Monday the 22nd was a particularly bad day; soldiers led by Conte’s son shot about 20 young protestors in the capital.

From the day the strike was called Peace Corps Guinea went on standfast, meaning all volunteers had to stay where they were and contact PC daily. I waited patiently for information and hiked 20 minutes to the place with the radio each day to get the same update: “the strike is still going on, we are still on standfast.” After a week and a half, the village radio stopped working so I packed a bag and biked the 22 km to Poredaka to stay with another volunteer for the rest of the strike. We were both happy to have some company. I was especially happy because Poredaka has a lot more food available than Kourou does.

That Tuesday we got a different update when we called: the next afternoon a PC car would be sent to pick us up and take us to Timbo, a village south of us. From Timbo we would go to Kankan, in eastern “Haute” Guinea, and from Kankan we would be driven across the border to Bamako, Mali. We were instructed to bring one bag and to leave a list of other items we would want sent to us if we could not return.

When the car came for us it had already picked up about ten other volunteers. Some had gotten the message and were prepared to leave, others were surprised when PC showed up at their houses and told them to pack their bags. Some were optimistic about being able to return to Guinea and others thought it very unlikely. But there was no way to know; we could only wait and see.

That night the volunteer in Timbo was charged with feeding and housing a dozen people. The community pitched in to prepare a spaghetti dinner. Several families opened up rooms in their homes to lodge us for the night. The next morning several local women got up early to prepare bouille (a sweet porridge made from rice) for breakfast before we left. A bus half-full of other volunteers came from Mamou that morning to collect us.

It took most of the day to drive to Kankan, where we were dropped off at the PC transit house. About 60 volunteers stayed the night in the house, which is designed to hold no more than 20. We people slept on shared mattresses, on couches, on the floor, or on the roof. A busload rolled out the next morning for Bamako.

The rest of us spent Friday in Kankan. The city had been a hotspot for protests and violence, but was quiet that day. We were even allowed to go into town for about an hour. I am told downtown is usually very busy but that day everything was closed up for the strike.

The next morning we were the last group to leave Kankan for Mali, and we left promptly at 5 am. The road to Bamako was smooth, border hassles were minimal, and we arrived at the PC Mali training compound by early afternoon. All of the volunteers in Guinea were taken out of the country safely. There are now 106 of us staying at the compound outside of Bamako, waiting for things in Guinea to cool down.

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