Labé
Labé ( Pular 𞤆𞤵𞤤𞤢𞤪:𞤂𞤢𞤦𞤫) is the main city and administrative capital of the Fouta Djallon region of Guinea. It has a population of about 200,000. It is the second largest city in the country after the capital Conakry ...
– March 14, 2004 in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
), a
Fulani
The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people ( ff, Fulɓe, ; french: Peul, links=no; ha, Fulani or Hilani; pt, Fula, links=no; wo, Pël; bm, Fulaw) are one of the largest ethnic groups in the Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region. ...
, was a
Guinea
Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...
n journalist and politician of the opposition party
Union for Progress and Renewal
The Union for Progress and Renewal (french: Union pour le Progrès et le Renouveau, UPR) is an opposition political party in Guinea, founded in September 1998 through the merger of Siradio Diallo's Renewal and Progress Party and Ba Mamadou's Un ...
. He was a candidate during the 1993 Guinean presidential election but only received 11.86% of the vote. He also stood for presidency in the
1998 Guinean presidential election
Presidential elections were held in Guinea on 14 December 1998. The result was a victory for incumbent President Lansana Conté of the Unity and Progress Party, who received 56.1% of the vote. Voter turnout was 71.4%.2003 Guinean presidential election
Presidential elections were held in Guinea on 21 December 2003. Incumbent Lansana Conté won over 95.6% of the vote after most opposition parties boycotted the elections.
Candidates
Conté ran for another seven-year term despite serious health p ...
.
Early years
Diallo was from Labé, located in
Fouta Djallon
Fouta Djallon ( ff, 𞤊𞤵𞥅𞤼𞤢 𞤔𞤢𞤤𞤮𞥅, Fuuta Jaloo; ar, فوتا جالون) is a Highland (geography), highland region in the center of Guinea, roughly corresponding with Middle Guinea, in West Africa.
Etymology
The Ful ...
, a highland region in the centre of the country. His father, Elhadj lbrahima Gassama Diallo, was a government official, before and after the country's independence. His mother was Thierno Hadiatou Bah, was the eldest daughter of the reigning family of
Dalaba
Dalaba ( Pular : 𞤁𞤢𞤤𞤢𞤦𞤢𞥄) is a town and sub-prefecture in the Dalaba Prefecture in the Mamou Region of Guinea.
It was once home to a sanatorium, and to Miriam Makeba, who last visited the town in 1988, when she came to see ...
. Diallo was the eldest son of a family that included 21 siblings. His paternal grandparents was Thierno Cellou Diallo, the leader of Pilimini (a village in
Koubia Prefecture
Koubia ( Pular: 𞤍𞤢𞤤𞤭𞥅𞤪𞤫 𞤑𞤵𞤦𞤭𞤴𞤢𞥄) is a prefecture located in the Labé Region of Guinea in the Fouta Djallon mountains. Fulas are the majority ethnic group in the region with Fula ( Pular) as the prima ...
) and Bah Assiatou Thierno, eldest daughter of the venerable Thierno Aliou Bhoubha N'diyan.
Diallo received his initial education at Koranic Kottyou Timbi Touni in
Pita Prefecture
Pita ( Pular: 𞤍𞤢𞤤𞤭𞥅𞤪𞤫 𞤆𞤭𞤼𞤢) is a prefecture located in the Mamou Region of Guinea. The capital is Pita. The prefecture covers an area of 4,320 km.² and has an estimated population of 266,000.
Sub-prefec ...
. He attended elementary school in Labé, graduating in 1951. After attending the 7th World Scout Jamboree in
Bad Ischl
Bad Ischl (Austrian German ) is a spa town in Austria. It lies in the southern part of Upper Austria, at the Traun River in the centre of the Salzkammergut region. The town consists of the Katastralgemeinden ''Ahorn'', ''Bad Ischl'', ''Haiden' ...
, Austria, he spent four years studying in the capital of Guinea and in 1955, he entered
École normale supérieure William Ponty
École William Ponty was a government teachers' college in French West Africa, in what is now Senegal. The school is now in Kolda, Senegal, where it is currently known as École de formation d’instituteurs William Ponty. It is associated with t ...
Dakar
Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...
with a Bachelor in philosophy. In 1959, he was enrolled at the
University of Dakar
Cheikh Anta Diop University (french: Université Cheikh Anta Diop or UCAD), also known as the Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar, is a university in Dakar, Senegal. It is named after the Senegalese physicist, historian and anthropologist Cheikh ...
Faculty of Arts and Humanities and Faculty of Law and Economics. Later, he studied economics at the University of
Poitiers
Poitiers (, , , ; Poitevin: ''Poetàe'') is a city on the River Clain in west-central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and the historical centre of Poitou. In 2017 it had a population of 88,291. Its agglomerat ...
and
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
.
Career
After his graduation in 1967, he worked at
Banque Nationale de Paris
BNP Paribas is a French international banking group, founded in 2000 from the merger between Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP, "National Bank of Paris") and Paribas, formerly known as the Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas. The full name of the grou ...
and the
French Ministry of Finance
The Ministry of Economics, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty (french: Ministère de l'Économie, des Finances et de la Souveraineté industrielle et numérique, pronounced ), informally referred to as Bercy, is one of the most impor ...
. In the late 1960s, he had a brief stint at the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE). However, he was primarily a journalist and worked from 1970 for the magazine ''
Jeune Afrique
''Jeune Afrique'' (English: ''Young Africa'') is a French-language pan-African weekly news magazine, founded in 1960 in Tunis and subsequently published in Paris. It is the most widely read pan-African magazine. It is also a book publisher, unde ...
'', rising to the position of
editor in chief
An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies.
The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...
.
Parallel to his journalistic activities, he organized the Coalition of Guineans from outside (EGR), a group made up of Guineans exiled and traumatized by the terror regime of
Sékou Touré
Sekou, also spelled Sékou or Seku, is a given name from the Fula language. It is equivalent to the Arabic ''Sheikh''. People with this name include:
Given name
* Seku Amadu (1776–1845), also known as Sékou Amadou or Sheikh Amadu, founder of th ...
. He held the position of secretary general of the EGR. Diallo founded, among others, the '' Comité de Réflexion sur la Démocratie en Guinée'' (CRDG). After Toure's death in 1984, Diallo returned to Guinea. In 1991, he became secretary general of the '' Parti du Progrès Guinée'' (PGP) and founded a year later, the '' Parti du Progrès et du Renouveau'' (PRP) ("Revival and Progress Party"). The pressure of the growing opposition created the bloodless coup which led to President
Lansana Conté
Lansana Conté (30 November 1934 – 22 December 2008
coming to power. In the uneasy presidential election in Guinea of 1993, Diallo was a candidate for president and one of Conté's main rivals. He accused the government of electoral fraud. From 1995, Diallo was a deputy in the
National Assembly of Guinea
The unicameral ''Assemblée nationale'' or National Assembly is Guinea's legislative body. Since the country's birth in 1958, it has experienced political turmoil, and elections have been called at irregular intervals, and only since 1995 have the ...
Conakry
Conakry (; ; sus, Kɔnakiri; N’ko: ߞߐߣߊߞߙߌ߫, Fula: ''Konaakiri'' 𞤑𞤮𞤲𞤢𞥄𞤳𞤭𞤪𞤭) is the capital and largest city of Guinea. A port city, it serves as the economic, financial and cultural centre of Guinea. Its p ...
, the Fulbe from the Conté regime. There were violent protests and clashes between the population, opposition and police.
In the parliamentary elections in 2002, Diallo's UPR was the only opposition party to participate, and it won 20 of the 114 parliamentary seats. He stood again for presidency in the
2003 Guinean presidential election
Presidential elections were held in Guinea on 21 December 2003. Incumbent Lansana Conté won over 95.6% of the vote after most opposition parties boycotted the elections.
Candidates
Conté ran for another seven-year term despite serious health p ...
, participating in a national election tour. Among other issues, he opposed the charge finding that the UPR had conducted a secret agreement with the government. The elections, however, were boycotted by all major opposition parties, including the UPR, due to lack of fairness.
Diallo denounced political fatalism.Camara, p. 181 He died on March 14, 2004, in Paris at the age of 68 years from a
cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possib ...