Guinea votes in contested referendum

Guinea held a contested referendum on Sunday, widely seen as president Alpha Conde’s attempt to stay in power.
Opposition activists said that security forces “carried out massive arrests, fired blindly, cruelly molested and killed at least 10 people”. During the unrest, several government offices, schools and a police station were attacked to destroy voting material.
Conde is proposing a change to the constitution to codify gender equality and introduce other social reforms, but analysts say the real motive is to reset presidential term limits. Conde has not denied that he might use the new constitution to seek another term.
Last month, Conde postponed the referendum, which was scheduled for March 1, after international criticism of some 2.5 million dubious names on the Guinea’s electoral roll. The government says it has now scrubbed the problematic names, but the opposition still doubts the vote’s credibility.
In 2010, Conde became Guinea’s first democratically-elected president. He was returned to office by voters in 2015 for his second and final five-year term under the current constitution, but critics say he has become increasingly authoritarian, citing arrests of protest leaders.
According to reports, at least 31 people and one police officer have been killed since October, when Guineans have protested against the possibility of Conde extending his term.
Guinea also has confirmed two cases of the coronavirus, one of which has now been cured, the health ministry said.