The 1984 Guinean coup d'état was the bloodless

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

coup that took place in

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

on 3 April 1984, led by Colonel

Lansana Conté Lansana Conté (; 30 November 1934 – 22 December 2008

. It led to the deposition of

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Louis Lansana Beavogui Louis Lansana Beavogui (; 28 December 1923 – 19 August 1984) was a Guinean politician. He was Prime Minister from 1972 to 1984 and was briefly interim President in 1984. Background and political career Beavogui, a member of the Toma ethni ...

, who had held the office since 1972, and had been serving as

interim president An acting president is a person who temporarily fills the role of a country's president when the incumbent president is unavailable (such as by illness or visiting abroad) or when the post is vacant (such as for death, resignation or removal ...

since 26 March, when longtime President

Ahmed Sékou Touré Ahmed Sékou Touré (var. Sheku Turay or Ture; N'Ko: ; 9 January 1922 – 26 March 1984) was a Guinean political leader and African statesman who was the first president of Guinea from 1958 until his death in 1984. Touré was among the primary ...

died during an emergency heart operation at the

Cleveland Clinic Cleveland Clinic is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Academic health science center, academic Medical centers in the United States, medical center based in Cleveland, Ohio. Owned and operated by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, an O ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

The coup

The military struck just hours before the

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

of the Democratic Party of Guinea (PDG), the only legally permitted party in the country, was to select a new leader. Interim president Beavogui was expected to win. Under the Constitution, the PDG's leader would have been automatically elected to a seven-year term as president, and would have been confirmed in office via a referendum the following spring. Colonel Conté suspended the constitution and dissolved the PDG, the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

and all mass organizations. The

Military Committee of National Restoration The Military Committee of National Restoration (, CMRN) was the ruling junta of Guinea which, led by Colonel Lansana Conté, seized power in a coup d'état on 3 April 1984, following the death of President Ahmed Sékou Touré on 26 March. It was c ...

(CMNR) was created as the ruling junta. He ordered the release of political prisoners held at

Camp Boiro Camp Boiro or Camp Mamadou Boiro (1960–1984) is a defunct Guinean concentration camp in the city of Conakry. During the regime of President Ahmed Sékou Touré, thousands of political opponents were imprisoned at the camp. It has been estimated t ...

, a

concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

within the capital

Conakry Conakry ( , ; ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guinea. A port city, it serves as the economic, financial and cultural centre of Guinea. Its population as of the 2014 Guinea census was 1,660,973. The current population of C ...

. Conté was named new President on 5 April.

Aftermath

Eventually, a power struggle developed between Conté and a fellow member of the CMNR, Lieutenant Colonel Diarra Traoré (who briefly served as Prime Minister in April–December 1984), with the latter being executed in the aftermath of a failed coup attempt in July 1985. Conté took advantage of the coup attempt to execute several of Ahmed Sekou Touré's close associates, including his half-brother Ismaël Touré (former chief prosecutor at Camp Boiro), Mamadi Keïta, Siaka Touré (former commander of Camp Boiro), Moussa Diakité, and Abdoulaye Touré (former

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

). Conté remained in power until his death on 22 December 2008, which was almost immediately followed by another

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

, led by Captain Moussa Dadis Camara."Death of Guinea dictator prompts 'coup'"
AFP (''Sydney Morning Herald''), 23 December 2008.

References

;Bibliography * {{DEFAULTSORT:1984 Guinean coup d'état Military coups in Guinea 1984 in Guinea Conflicts in 1984 1980s coups d'état and coup attempts April 1984 in Africa

The coup

Aftermath

See also

References