2024-09-07 01:50:21
Get real-time updates directly to your device, subscribe now.
In Guinea, the art of governing seems to have been reduced to a series of small actions disguised as feats. Announcements of a few kilometers of paved roads, boreholes dug, schools built, latrines inaugurated or bridges completed are celebrated with grandiloquence. However, this statistical boasting hides a sad reality: that of a governance disconnected from the real aspirations of the people and incapable of responding to the colossal challenges facing our country.
In a country like Guinea, where the immensity of the tasks to get out of precariousness is obvious, it is disconcerting to see that we are satisfied with so little. Building a road, a school, a maternity ward, a hospital or a bridge is, in itself, a basic necessity of power, not an exploit. It is part of the fundamental role of any responsible government. However, our leaders seem to have lost sight of this obvious fact. Their actions, although necessary, are erected as monuments of their governance, as if they were enough to mask the deep flaws of the system.
Guinean leaders like to boast of results made up of figures that they put forward as trophies. “We have built X kilometers of roads”, “We have inaugurated Y schools”, we hear frequently. But the question remains: how should this be applauded? No journalist takes stock of his articles at the end of each year, just as no doctor counts the patients cured or no judge records the sentences handed down. These actions are part of their jobs, just as building infrastructure is part of the functions inherent in exercising power.
The real challenge of modern governance goes far beyond these simplistic accounts. Building roads, schools or maternity hospitals is not enough to redress a country plunged into decades of injustice, corruption and economic misery. Guinea suffers not only from a lack of physical infrastructure, but from a glaring deficit of justice, equity and good governance. Governance in the 21st century is not measured only in bridges built, but in constant efforts to establish justice, to make democracy a tangible reality, and to make governance transparent and accessible to all.
This is where the problem lies. Our leaders seem to indulge in an illusion of progress, while corruption takes deeper roots. Intoxicated by the privileges of power, they lose sight of the crying suffering of their people. They celebrate while the majority struggles to make ends meet and boast about their small achievements when we should cry in the face of the magnitude of the challenges.
On every street corner, in every institution, the scars of systemic corruption are visible. Lying and duplicity have become the norm, while injustice is becoming widespread. Faced with this dark picture, Guinean society is increasingly resigned. Those who still try to oppose, to denounce these abuses, find themselves marginalized, reduced to silence.
Today, public money, which should be invested in structuring projects for the future of our country, is squandered in grandiloquent concerts and useless support movements. Ironically, these demonstrations are often led by the same individuals who, just yesterday, unreservedly supported the Alpha Condé regime, overthrown by this military power. How can we not question the morality of these people and their actions? Instead of wasting these funds on superficial activities, would it not be wiser to use this money to build non-existent nursery schools, health centers, or to improve the living conditions of our fellow citizens? The real priority is elsewhere, and it does not reside in the fanfare of ephemeral celebrations.
TThree years of transition and a record of 2,000 kilometers of roads must not make us forget the real challenges facing Guinea. History will judge us not on the length of our roads, but on our ability to carry out deep reforms, establish justice and combat corruption.
We must refuse to be satisfied with appearances and demand that our leaders fully assume their responsibility towards the people. Every Guinean has a role to play in this transformation process. It is by uniting, demanding transparency and working for real change that we can build a future where justice and prosperity are not just slogans, but tangible realities.
True patriotism is not just about national pride, but about the collective will to build a better country for ourselves and for future generations. Guinea deserves more than fleeting celebrations and inflated numbers; it deserves honest governance and a clear vision for its future.
It is time to lift the veil on illusions and fully commit ourselves to the path of true reform. The destiny of our country is in our hands, and it is our sacred duty to shape it with determination, courage and a deep sense of the common good. May our ambition for Guinea go beyond the kilometers of asphalt and translate into real progress, based on justice, transparency and integrity.
Ousmane God KABA