Guinea coup leader Mamady Doumbouya wins presidential election

Guinea coup leader Mamady Doumbouya wins presidential electionDoumbouya wins with 86.72 percent of the vote, an absolute majority, four years after he led a military takeover.Published On 30 Dec 2025|Updated: 12 minutes agoGuinea coup leader ⁠Mamady Doumbouya has ​been ‍elected president, according to provisional results, following the country’s first election since a military takeover in 2021.The ‌results announced on Tuesday showed Doumbouya winning ‌86.72 percent of the vote, held on ⁠December 28, an absolute majority that allows him to avoid a run-off.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Guinea votes in first polls since 2021 coup, military leader likely to winlist 2 of 4US bombs target ISIL in Nigeria: What’s really going on?list 3 of 4Guinea elections: Who’s running and what’s at stake?list 4 of 4Trump recalls dozens of career diplomats in ‘America First’ pushend of listThe ‌Supreme Court has eight days to validate the results in the ‍event of a challenge.The election was widely seen as a means to legitimise Doumbouya’s stay in power.It was also the culmination of a transition process that began four years ago after Doumbouya ousted President Alpha Conde, who had been in office since 2010.The coup leader has since clamped down on opposition and dissent, critics say, leaving him with no major opponents among the eight other candidates who were in the race.Both Conde and longtime opposition leader Cellou Dalein Diallo live in exile.Doumbouya goes back on pledgeThe lesser-known Yero Balde, a former education minister in Conde’s government, came a distant second, with 6.51 percent of the votes. The General Directorate of Elections said that 80.95 percent of the 6.7 million people registered had voted in the poll.After seizing power, Doumbouya had said that he and other military officers would not run in elections. However, a referendum in September allowed officers to run and extended the presidential term from five to seven years.Guinea is home to the world’s largest reserves of bauxite and holds one of the biggest untapped iron ore deposits at Simandou, a project officially launched last month after years of delays.