Lansana Conté (N'Ko: ߟߊ߲߭ߛߣߊ߬ ߞߐ߲ߕߋ߬; 30 November 1934[2] – 22 December 2008[3]) was a Guinean politician and military official who served as the second president of Guinea from 1984 until his death in 2008.
Prime Minister Louis Lansana Beavogui was named interim president, pending elections to be held within 45 days.
A 25-member Military Committee of National Restoration (CMRN) was set up and led by Conté, who on 5 April was proclaimed President of the Republic.
On 4 July 1985, soldiers loyal to Conté, who was attending an Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) summit in Lomé, Togo, thwarted a coup d'état.
Conté, a member of the Susu people (or Sousou), used the opportunity to eliminate rival soldiers from the Malinké ethnic group, including former Prime Minister Diarra Traoré.
Conté's economic reforms, including currency devaluation and reduction of government spending met with approval of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and realignment with western nations encouraged foreign investments.
Conté, candidate of the newly formed Party of Unity and Progress (PUP), won 51.7% of the vote—just barely enough to avoid a runoff.
[7] The opposition alleged electoral fraud, especially after the Supreme Court discounted as invalid the results in two prefectures where Condé of the RPG had received a large majority of the vote.
Conté's government narrowly survived a 2 February 1996 coup attempt that stemmed from an army mutiny over payment of salaries.
Conté had been in declining health, suffering from diabetes and heart problems, and his ability to serve and survive another full term in office was doubted by many.
One eyewitness of the shooting told RFI that the attackers had exchanged gunfire with Conte's bodyguards for about four minutes before dropping their weapons and fleeing.
Then in May 2006 riots in Conakry over the price of rice and fuel led to around twenty deaths as security forces savagely repressed the popular uprising.
In an interview with journalists reported by Guinéenews in October 2006, Lansana Conté said that he intended to stay as president until 2010, which was the end of his seven-year term.
By the end of the strike on 27 January, it was reported that at least 90 protesters had died in violent clashes with police[12] and at least 300 had been injured, according to a local human rights group.
[20] In an interview with Agence France-Presse and TV5 on 14 June 2007, Conté asserted that he was still in charge of the country ("I'm the boss, others are my subordinates"), rejected the possibility of a transition, and said that his appointment of a prime minister was not due to pressure and that he was pleased with Kouyaté's performance.
[24][25][26][27][28] Kouyaté was widely considered a disappointment in his role as Prime Minister, and his unpopularity meant that his dismissal was not greeted with any major unrest of the kind that led to his appointment a year earlier.
"[29] Conté had left the country for medical treatment on numerous occasions in the years preceding his death,[3] and speculation about his health had long been widespread.
Contrary to his usual practice, Conté did not appear on television to mark Tabaski earlier in December 2008, and this sparked renewed speculation, as well as concern about the possibility of violence in the event of his death.
He told the army to secure the borders and maintain calm within the country "in homage to the memory of the illustrious late leader".
[34] This statement, read by Captain Moussa Dadis Camara[35] on behalf of a group called the National Council for Democracy and Development (CNDD),[34] said that "the government and the institutions of the Republic have been dissolved".
General Mamadou Ba Toto of the CNDD said at the funeral that "we pray God to give us the courage to continue [Conté's] work of tolerance and peace for the welfare of Guinea".