Guinea’s Supreme Court confirms Mamadi Doumbouya’s election victory
On Sunday, Guinea’s Supreme Court confirmed the results of the presidential election held on 28 December and declared victory for junta leader Mamadi Doumbouya. According to official figures, the 41-year-old received 86.7% of the vote and prevailed over eight opponents in the first round of voting. Abdoulaye Yéro Baldé (Front démocratique de Guinée, FRONDEG) came in second with 6.6% and Faya Lansana Millimouno (Bloc Liberal) came in third with 2.0%. The official turnout was just under 81%. The election marks the completion of the formal transition process to a civilian-elected government, which Doumbouya himself initiated after the military coup against President Alpha Condé in September 2021 (Press Review CW 36/2021). This means that the country now meets the conditions for the possible lifting of sanctions and its suspension from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU).
AU Commission Chair Mahamoud Ali Youssouf congratulated Doumbouya on his election victory on Monday and welcomed the peaceful conduct of the vote. He also spoke out directly in favour of a reassessment of the sanctions imposed on Guinea. Meanwhile, criticism came from the opposition and parts of civil society. The runner-up candidate, Bladé, accused the junta of electoral manipulation and criticised the fact that representatives of his party had not been given access to the counting centres. The opposition also expressed doubts about the official turnout after local media and civil society groups in opposition strongholds reported rather low turnout. Against the backdrop of the suspension of several opposition parties – including the Union des Forces Démocratiques de Guinée (UFDG), the Union des Forces Républicaines (UFR) and the Rassemblement du Peuple de Guinée Arc-en-Ciel (RPG) – some parties had also called for a boycott of the election.
Key opposition candidates were also excluded from the election. These include opposition leader and former Prime Minister Cellou Dalein Diallo (UFDG) and former Prime Minister Sidaya Touré (UFR), who are currently living in exile outside Guinea and therefore did not meet the requirements for candidacy under the new constitution. The constitution was adopted in September last year and also allows members of the military to run for political office (Press Review CW 39/2025). It thus paved the way for Doumbouya’s presidential candidacy, after he had assured during his seizure of power in 2021 that the military would not interfere in civilian government and that he himself would not run for office.
In addition to the question of stabilising democratic structures, Guinea’s economic situation poses a key challenge for the incoming government. Accordingly, Doumbouya focused on economic stability during his election campaign and highlighted the mega iron ore project in Simandou, which involves various Chinese companies and was launched in November last year. Guinea has some of the world’s most significant iron ore deposits and is the second-largest producer of bauxite, the raw material for aluminium. The profits from Simandou are to be used to finance investments in areas such as education and health, among other things. In terms of foreign policy, good relations with France are likely to continue – unlike Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, the military junta in Guinea did not break with the former colonial power.
Touadéra wins third term in Central African Republic
On Monday evening, the electoral commission of the Central African Republic published the preliminary results of the presidential elections held on 28 December 2025. According to these results, incumbent Faustin-Archange Touadéra received 76.2% of the votes, clearly defeating six challengers. He was followed by the former president of the Central African Central Bank and former Prime Minister Anicet-Georges Dologuélé, who received just under 15% of the vote, and Henri-Marie Dondra, also a former Prime Minister, who received only 3.2%. Of the 2.4 million registered voters, 52% cast their ballots, bringing voter turnout 17 percentage points higher than in the last election in 2020.
After the results were announced, the two opposition candidates, Dologuélé and Dondra, accused the electoral commission of fraud and declared that they would not recognise the results. Dologuélé announced that he would file a lawsuit with the Constitutional Court alleging manipulation and would present evidence. This must be received by the court by 13 January. The court would then have until 20 January to rule on any challenges and announce the final result. A spokesperson for the ruling party rejected the opposition’s allegations and accused Dologuélé of seeking to provoke unrest based on false accusations. International and local election observers also assessed the elections as largely peaceful and well organised. The African Union praised the conduct of the elections, saying that, given compliance with the applicable legal framework, they were not comparable to the elections in 2016 and 2020.
Meanwhile, critics have been pointing out the tense political situation leading up to the elections. The biggest opposition coalition, the Bloc Républicain pour la Défense de la Constitution (BRDC), boycotted the election, saying it was because of the tense security situation and the 2023 constitutional change (Press Review CW 32/2023). The reform abolished term limits and extended terms of office to seven years, which enabled Touadéra to run for office and was criticised by the opposition as a move to secure the president’s hold on power.
When Touadéra was first elected president in 2016, the country was marked by ongoing conflicts between predominantly Muslim ex-Séléka rebel groups and predominantly Christian anti-Balaka militias. To stabilise the country, Touadéra increasingly relied on foreign support, particularly from troops from Rwanda and Russian fighters from the Wagner Group (now known as the Africa Corps). These were instrumental in recapturing state territories. While around 80% of the country was still under rebel control at the time of the 2020 election, the government now controls around 90% of the national territory. The successes in the security sector formed a correspondingly large part of Touadéra’s election campaign.
However, the 68-year-old is beginning his third term in office facing a number of challenges. The economic conditions, growing national debt and major infrastructure gaps are weighing heavily on the country, where 71% of the population lives below the poverty line. Touadéra remains heavily dependent on Russian and Rwandan security forces for peacekeeping, although some analysts believe that Russia would like to curb Rwanda’s growing influence. At the same time, incidents between the Zande militia founded by the Wagner Group and the national army are causing growing insecurity in the South-East of the country. In an interview with Russian news agency TASS published on Wednesday, Touadéra expressed his gratitude for the good military cooperation with Russia, expressed his desire to open a joint drone training centre and invited his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to pay a state visit.
In other news
Over the weekend, the capital of Equatorial Guinea was officially moved from Malabo to Ciudad de La Paz, as President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo announced by decree. Within a year, all state and public authorities are to move from Malabo to Ciudad de La Paz. The move, which has been in planning since 2008, is being justified on strategic grounds. The previous capital, Malabo, is located on Bioko Island, separated from the mainland. The relocation is intended to modernise public administration and improve accessibility. Security policy aspects also influenced the decision. According to an official statement, the seat of government has already been the target of several attacks from abroad via sea. In addition, Malabo and the economic centre of Bata are struggling with rapid urban growth – the move to Ciudad de La Paz, which translates as “City of Peace”, is intended to spread the pressure of urbanisation across several cities. The new capital, also known by the name of the province of the same name, Djibloho, and as Oyala, is located about 70 kilometres from the district of Mongomo, Obiang’s birthplace, and close to the border with Gabon.