Guinea: graffiti of ex-president Sékou Touré sparks controversy

A graffiti bearing the effigy of Guinea’s ex-president Sékou Touré has sparked controversy in the capital, Conakry.

The mural is located in the administrative district of Kaloum, where four senior officials of the state led by Sékou Touré were executed in the January, 1971. The four were accused of plotting against the regime between 1958 and 1984.

This has revived passion for the father of independence who authoritatively led Guinea for 26 years

“We had asked for a stele on this level to commemorate all these hangings, which was not done despite the promises of the time. This bloodthirsty, the executioner, is magnified on a section of this bridge, where he hanged human beings, I think it’s still too expensive to pay”, said Fodé Marega, member of the Camp Boiro victims’ association.

“If my father had been hanged, would I have the same reactions?. These are the questions we also ask ourselves in our movement, so we are very sensitive to their cries of hearts, but we want to ask them that together, every Guinean must join hands to have a true forgiveness, because the parents are dead, we can not bring them back to life, but we can honor them’‘, said a member of the ‘Sékou Touré ‘ movement, Soninké Diané.

The artist behind the mural claims to have received permission from local officials. Chimère Ndiaw said his intentions were noble.

“It’s art, we’re doing something that’s beautiful, people come to take pictures, so each country has its story too, but we did not do it to upset the association. On the contrary, if it touched them, we ask for forgiveness, because that is not our intention, it was not a political thing. We were not financed by someone”, he said.

The graffiti also includes that of Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah and former Burkinabee president, Thomas Sankara.

AFP