The ruling junta in the Republic of Guinea has announced its desire to suspend its participation in the Organization for the Development of the Senegal River (OMVS). It was via a press release that the soldiers, who are trying their hand at exercising political power in Conakry, expressed their desire to leave the OMVS. Arguments are not lacking for the men in fatigue. They “note with regret that the concerns and strategic interests of the participation of the Republic of Guinea are still not taken into account by the said organization, since its creation”.  Beyond the populism of such a declaration and its disconnection with reality and the achievements of a sub-regional organization acting in a pivotal role in the management of drinking water, electricity and agriculture in our sub-region, we can only be outraged by such casualness on the part of the Guinean military power.

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The schizophrenia of the Malian junta in Bamako, which pushes it to portray Minusma as the chariot of Hades, would it have reached Conakry? The Omvs is the new target to rush at breakneck speed on the highway of isolationism. A withdrawal of ECOWAS, in the short or medium term, would surely be the next step in this game of one-upmanship and escalation.

The Guinean junta claims a « considerable delay in the financing of the Koukoutamba electric dam » (Labé region) and the under-representation of its nationals in the organization. Colonel Doumbouya demands that his country have places in the decision-making bodies of the OMVS and that the projects of his country be supported as a priority. Requirement for requirement, is Colonel Doumbouya interested in the state of his country’s contributions in an organization infused with injections from Senegal, at the risk of frustrating brothers and neighbors! What interest can he derive from wanting to weaken the OMVS and break a community dynamic made up of sincere cooperation, mutual aid and support in the management of a resource that is becoming scarce, now a source of conflict and intense tension?

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Senegal was happy last year, through the voice of President Macky Sall, at the height of the tension between Egypt and Ethiopia and during his presidency of the African Union (AU), to present the example of the OMVS to facilitate the management of the Nile. A brief overview of the conflicts around shared watercourses shows that the Senegal River and the operation of the OMVS make it a fine exception and a successful model of cooperation between neighboring nations on water management. Is Colorado not a source of friction between the United States and Mexico, with the large dams established on this river? Didn’t Turkey irritate Syria and Iraq as part of its Gap program for the modernization of the East of the country by recovering the majority of the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates? What criticism can we find of an organization that has succeeded in mastering and making available a quantity of fresh water to generate an entire ecosystem that benefits member countries, to the point of being a driving force in their development?

Guinea Announces Its Depature From OMVS: The Junta Swims Against the Current

The High Commission of the Omvs, since the announcement of the Guinean authorities, seeks to reconcile the points of view and seek to provide answers to the frustrations and anger of the junta, in a conciliatory posture. It is in a positive spirit, consistent with the functioning of the organization which, since 1972, has always relied on dialogue and understanding to avoid headaches that could have unfortunate consequences for populations, whose cohabitation has always been harmonious.  In an era where vice wants to supplant virtue everywhere, it is a dangerous game to surf on supposed frustrations to break community dynamics and play the injured victim card to push others to accept, headlong, a rush with other objectives.

It is under the prism of an irresponsible stroke of blood that the decision of the Guinean junta, risking sabotaging the survival of the Omvs, can be perceived. A decision that is all the more incomprehensible as it comes at a time when navigability on the Senegal River is the challenge that the sub-regional cooperation organization has set itself, to further encourage the mixing of peoples and the exchange of goods between communities that are all linked, and a vital shared resource encourages people to live in a most harmonious way. The founding fathers could not have dreamt that after fifty years of existence, the demons of division would invite themselves to the Omvs, moreover at the initiative of the country where the Senegal River finds its source. This is to say the drama and all the harm that apprentice leaders do. Are we going to see Guinea divert the course of the river or close its source in retaliation against the Omvs?

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Successions run the risk of involving in the management of adventurer States who invite themselves by breaking into the commands of common destinies and trample on everything that makes sense. Unravelling on fallacious, populist and irresponsible bases is their art. Challenging the visions of founding fathers and deflecting nations from their lucid trajectory are their only contribution. It is unfortunate that they want to leave their name to history, by the immensity of the damage they will have caused.

By Serigne Saliou DIAGNE / saliou.diagne@lequotidien.sn

  • Translation by Ndey T. SOSSEH