Who is Alpha Conde, Guinea’s toppled president?

Critics argue that the 83-year-old leader worked for decades to restore democracy, but once in power, he undermined it.

The overthrow of President Alpha Conde in Guinea capped a steady slide from grace for the veteran opposition leader and human rights professor who critics say failed to live up to pledges to deliver democratic restoration and ethnic reconciliation. A dishevelled Conde appeared in a video circulating on social media as he was being held in custody after the military seized power on Sunday, announcing that it had dissolved the constitution, shut down the country’s borders and imposed a nationwide curfew. Draped in a Guinean flag and surrounded by a group of six soldiers in full gear, special forces commander Colonel Mamadi Doumbouya appeared on national television pledging to restore democracy.