2023-11-14 18:07:23
The trial of the September 28, 2009 massacre is now in its third phase, that of the appearance of witnesses. Thus, Monday November 13, Tibou Kamara, former minister of Alpha Condé, Sékouba Konaté and Moussa Dadis Camara, took the stand to give his version of the facts.
In explaining what he says he knew at the time of the events, the former minister Tibou engaged in rhetoric, praising Captain Dadis who appears to be a model leader.
Difficult exercise of power
Cited by the prosecution as being a key witness, Tibou Kamara began his testimony by paying tribute to the victims, before saying: “We are here in relation to the issue of power, because behind this historic trial, implicitly, there there is the issue of power, the dispute for the exercise of power, the dispute for the conservation of power.” According to him, those who were helped to stay in business were opposed to those who wanted to come into business. He believes that it is this conflict between these two tendencies which degenerated into a bloody fight which cost the lives of many compatriots. And to define what power is. “The exercise of power is complex, to the extent that there are hawks and doves. The hawks are those who believe in the firmness of the State, those who believe in authority as a means of preserving public order. The State whose violence must be exercised, to protect life in common and ensure the institutions of the Republic their strength, their integrity and their power. And then there are the little doves who think that this is not incompatible with the doctrine of peace; the frantic and relentless search for compromise and dialogue. In the middle of these two antagonistic currents, there is a man at the heart of public action who is the head of state. He consults, he listens to several sounds of bells and in the end, he is given to make a decision, to make a choice. This decision which is his, which commits him personally, can be judged good, relevant or bad. The choice he makes may be right or justified. In any case, in the end, he will have to decide, he will have to choose a path, if he chooses it, it engages his responsibility, if he does nothing at all, he may be suspected of decidophobia: this difficulty not being able to make decisions, this inability to decide to move a process forward.”
Labé’s journey
In this trial, many actors who took the stand spoke about Labé’s trip. Before the trip, Tibou Kamara claims to have asked Captain Moussa Dadis Camara the question to find out the exact motivation for traveling to a territory, at the time, considered hostile and inhospitable for the President in office that he was. Moussa Dadis reportedly replied: “That he did not want to give the impression of being President of one part of Guinea and not another. He did not want to give the image of a President who governed one part of Guinea against another part. As a soldier, he did not want to give the impression that one part of the country would be allowed to him and another would be forbidden. He therefore felt that this trip would have given the message that there was no discrimination between the different regions of the country. And that he wanted to be above the fray and be the President of all Guineans. The last argument is that he was invited by the notability and he did not want to not respond to this invitation. » The former minister declares that the trip took place in very good conditions; the notability, the youth, the population of Labé strongly mobilized to give a warm welcome, with popular fervor, to the head of state who was received in part of the country.
From the discussion that went wrong
On the way back, Tibou recalls, they stopped at Labé station. It was there that he spoke with General Sékouba Konaté about the planned opposition demonstration. That he would have liked to talk about it with Captain Dadis as well, “because the beginnings of the demonstration were taking shape with the fierce determination of the opposition of the active forces of the time, to organize, come what may, the demonstration. And the concern of the authorities that the demonstration does not disturb public order and above all does not coincide with the historic date of September 28, the confrontation was inevitable. On the one hand, you have the concern of citizens and organizers to exercise the freedoms and rights recognized by our laws and texts; on the other side, you have the State, whatever it may be, which is concerned that although these rights are enshrined, that this can be exercised within supervision, with respect for others, in short in such a way as to so that public order is not disturbed, so that these rights and freedoms can be fully exercised. I explained to General Sékouba Konaté that the two concerns are not irreconcilable. We could have, and we must, speak with the organizers to engage their responsibilities in relation to the organization of this demonstration, so that we do not go into confrontation, we do not fall into a showdown at the end. Uncertain outcome. General Sékouba Konaté was convinced by the argument. He replied that since he was not political, as Captain Dadis was not far away, he would put me in touch with him.” Tibou says he went to see Captain Moussa Dadis Camara who listened attentively, but was a little skeptical. “Because he did not see any reason to demonstrate, he did not see the reason for discontent among the active forces of the time, who were very good partners with him, individually and collectively. He was astonished at the reasons for taking to the streets which were the expression of unease, of a distancing that he at the time considered cordial and excellent. That no one told him of a reason to demonstrate.”
Phone call to dissuade leaders
Returning to Conakry on the evening of September 27, 2009, Tibou Kamara indicated that the implicit instruction that had been given was that from the moment they returned from a trip, exhausted, it was to stay at home. , to enjoy the moment. “I was at home in my bed when I received a call from Captain Moussa Dadis asking me if it was possible to join him at the camp. I arrived at Alpha Yaya camp. When I entered his apartment, I found the captain who did not have a beret, he was not in work clothes. So, he remembered the discussion we had in Labé. He agreed to call the organizers, to find an agreement on the conditions and modalities of organizing their demonstration.
Tibou Kamara claims that it was at the request of Captain Dadis that he called former Prime Minister Sidya Touré, president of the UFR, with his telephone. Captain Dadis reportedly told Sidya Touré that he agreed that the demonstration should take place, but that he had two points that he would like to discuss with him. “Captain Dadis estimated that from the moment the date of September 28 was a historic date which is reserved for the memory of Guineans, as being a celebration which allowed us to recover pride, he wanted us to spare this date of conflicts linked to protests, demonstrations, that it approves any other date that the organizers choose. Second thing, he asked to relocate the demonstration to the Nongo stadium. Because the Dixinn stadium was being renovated, as a prelude to an international match which was to be played there. Mr. Sidya Touré explained that the time was a little late and that he could not discuss with his co-organizers to convince them to postpone the event. He wanted to reassure Captain Dadis that the demonstration was peaceful. The captain insisted on his request. During the conversation, the phone was cut off. Second call, they discussed the same things in the face of the same blockage, the phone cut off. I called again, but the phone was turned off. We tried to contact other leaders, coincidentally, the phones were off. Since we couldn’t reach anyone anymore. I saw that the captain was disappointed at not having reached an agreement. But there was hope, because religious leaders had to take over. I came home “.
“I found Captain Dadis with his hands on his head”
Tibou Kamara largely returned to the day of the massacre. “On the morning of September 28, 2009, I was sleeping when an uncle who had his offices in the city came to my home and asked to wake me up, because serious things would happen in the city. He explained to me that he intended to go to his office, but he did not have access to the city, because the first incidents of the demonstration of the forces had already occurred. That he feared an explosion, the tension was so high. From then on, I listened to the radio. With calls from some friends, I was able to follow the evolution of the situation until the tragedy. At the end of the day, I was called by Captain Dadis to ask me if I could join him at camp. I told him that I really wanted to go to the camp, but traffic was cut off, I couldn’t take the risk of going out in a movement where there was strong tension. He sent Colonel Issa Camara, who was Mamou’s governor, to come pick me up with agents, in a vehicle. When I arrived at Alpha Yaya camp, I found Captain Dadis Camara in a corridor with his hands on his head. He cried out: ”Tibou, did you see what they did to me? Did you see what was done to me?” I was a little surprised, because it was one of the rare times I saw him in a weak position. He was literally devastated. I had no words…”
Mamadou Adama – The Best Of Mamadou Adama
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