Dumb and dumberer

By Saikou Diallo

Power and opposition are locked in a mortal combat fight to the finish and Guinea is going to end up the biggest loser. So loud are the shouts and screams, so vehement are the arguments, that sane people cannot hear themselves think and possibly think long enough to formulate a sound idea or two. We have dumb and dumberer facing each other in a battle of who can destroy the nation faster. In the blue corner, those in power willing to kill their own citizens, rule the masses at any cost and destroy anyone who stands in the way, ladies and gentlemen I give you dumb. In the red corner, those who will not be ruled, are willing to send masses of uneducated youth to be killed in their name and are willing to destroy anyone in power who is not them, ladies and gentlemen please welcome dumberer.
But, but,but, I hear dumberer say what is the alternative. What else I, dumberer, can do? Seeing that I was robbed of my victory and dumb is now reinforcing his power, kicking my supporters out and refusing to play by the rules and organize elections. What else can I do, back seat driving, Monday morning quarterbacking dude sitting in America?
I say let dumb govern. Let him try out his policies and practices; Let him fulfill his term and for heaven sakes oppose. Oppose by providing an alternative. It might help to govern a city or two or three and show what you can do. Listen dumberer, what you fail to understand is that as long as the equation is written in ethnic terms you will lose. Nobody cares that dumb is ruining the country because half the people believe that you are obstructing and a sore loser. I will let you guess which half that is. You are playing right in dumb’s hands with these tactics, can’t you see. He loves this chaos because it justifies why he cannot succeed and why he must consolidate his power into a dictatorship.
Dumberer, make it about ideas and ideals, make it about Guinea and Guineans not about you and dumb or this ethnic group or that. Call for national unity, joint prayer if you like but stop appearing like you are ready to do anything to gain power. Make it about laws and regulations, sue somebody everyday if you like but pursue legal channels to achieve your goals. In short, be a politician in the noble sense of the term, one with a program, a vision and a plan. Until you do dumb will always win and Guinea will always lose.

Guinea, Democracy and Governance: Guinean Hope

By Saikou Diallo

In the last post, I talked about the two cycles dominating Guinea at the moment. The Cuban occurs because regimes and leaders recognize that they cannot succeed and promptly proceed to scapegoat history, divide their nation and deflect the blame in order to perpetuate their reign. Simultaneously, opposition to the regime consisting mostly of exiles and expats enters an Iranian cycle of demonization, constant blame and fear tactics because they are mainly interested in toppling the regime and not in solving any particular problem. In that post, I tried to summarize the problem as I perceive it but I ignored the individual component that I must address before I talk about a solution.

ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE ON DEVELOPMENT – PART 1

By Serge Poueme
Originaly appeared in Camidus Foundation camidusfoundation.wordpress.com

What does the term development means today in Central Africa (Chad, Republic of Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Central African Republic) ?
From economic growth to sustainability, the stakes are multiple and several challenges await these countries in their journey toward what many have called emergence. Nations such as Cameroon have launched ambitious prosperity plans to tackle poverty and even if those strategies are resources-based (oil, metals, precious stones…etc), Central African countries still perform lower than the other regions in Africa: