{"id":204738,"date":"2021-10-11T17:55:50","date_gmt":"2021-10-11T15:55:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/papers-show-what-lay-behind-conde-regimes-ebola-denialism-in-guinea\/"},"modified":"2021-10-11T17:55:50","modified_gmt":"2021-10-11T15:55:50","slug":"papers-show-what-lay-behind-conde-regimes-ebola-denialism-in-guinea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/papers-show-what-lay-behind-conde-regimes-ebola-denialism-in-guinea\/","title":{"rendered":"Papers show what lay behind Cond\u00e9 regime’s Ebola denialism in Guinea"},"content":{"rendered":"
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More than 11,300 people died when the Ebola virus ripped through three West African countries<\/a> \u2013 Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia \u2013 from 2014 to 2016. It was the worst Ebola outbreak in known history. <\/p>\n

But the differences in responses to the outbreak, particularly in its early stages, were puzzling. While the outbreak worsened during the March-October 2014 period, Liberia and Sierra Leone emphatically sought global assistance. They and other states highlighted the danger the virus posed to local, regional and global stability<\/a>. Guinea\u2019s reaction, in contrast, was to downplay the epidemic. President Alpha Cond\u00e9 insisted his government had the outbreak under control<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As it\u2019s one of the poorest countries in the world<\/a>, with little infrastructure, and virtually no health infrastructure, why would anyone believe President Cond\u00e9\u2019s assertion?<\/p>\n

For me, this reaction did not appear to be in line with the severity of the outbreak, its potential economic destruction, the general risks to the population, and Guinea\u2019s overall stability. <\/p>\n

I decided to find out why Guinea reacted this way. And I concluded<\/a> that the reason was fear that Ebola would panic investors. Cond\u00e9\u2019s initial response was indicative of a pattern among some leaders to prioritise the perception of political and economic health instead of the health of their citizens. As in the current pandemic, this pattern is not unique to Guinea or to the Ebola outbreak<\/a><\/p>\n

Behind Guinea\u2019s Ebola denialism<\/h2>\n

In October 2014, I filed a Freedom of Information Act<\/a> request with the US Departments of State and Defense for information and communiqu\u00e9s related to the Ebola outbreak from the US embassies in Conakry, Freetown and Monrovia. <\/p>\n

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Read more: Marburg in Guinea: the value of lessons from managing other haemorrhagic outbreaks<\/a> <\/strong> <\/em>\n<\/p>\n

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After three years of prodding and waiting, both agencies delivered sets of documents that showed a blunt assessment of events in Liberia and Sierra Leone during the March-October 2014 period.<\/p>\n

But Cond\u00e9 told US embassy officials that Guinea had the outbreak under control. The documents presented a series of communiqu\u00e9s that provided assessments of the Ebola outbreaks in the three countries during the March-October 2014 period. The assessments were provided by high ranking US embassy staff, up to the level of US ambassadors. <\/p>\n

What I found<\/a> confirmed President Cond\u00e9\u2019s downplaying of the outbreak. It also revealed one of his potential motives in doing so. <\/p>\n

The story these documents told revealed policy failures that had their roots in both Guinea\u2019s underdevelopment and in the deeply corrupt relationship<\/a> between mining interests and the government. <\/p>\n

If you want to understand what a government\u2019s priorities are, an examination of its budget spending can help. In 2017, the latest available data indicated that Guinea spent only 4.1% of its government budget on healthcare<\/a>. But it spent 10.2% of its budget on its military. That number declined in 2020 to 8.2%, but was still double the healthcare expenditures.<\/p>\n

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Read more: Ebola strikes West Africa again: key questions and lessons from the past<\/a> <\/strong> <\/em>\n<\/p>\n

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Overall, Guinea ranks 178 out of 189 countries on the World Bank\u2019s Human Development Index<\/a>. The index is a composite measure of health, education and income. It\u2019s used as a measure of human poverty and capability that extends beyond just income.<\/p>\n

Guinea\u2019s mining interests also played a role. As the Ebola epidemic was unfolding in March 2014 \u2013 after the Guinean government acknowledged the presence of the virus \u2013 corruption scandals and mining contract issues that had been simmering since Cond\u00e9 took office finally boiled up<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Cond\u00e9\u2019s government needed more investors to develop Guinea\u2019s mining sector. The country is home to the world\u2019s largest supply of high-grade bauxite, the key component in the making of aluminium, and one of the world\u2019s largest untapped iron ore deposits<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For Cond\u00e9, the opportunity to advance this and other projects came with the first US-Africa Leaders Summit<\/a> held in Washington in August 2014. The summit was critical for kick-starting a new round of investment after the previous regime\u2019s mining arrangements collapsed. <\/p>\n

The Guinean delegation to the conference \u2013 the only one of the three Ebola-stricken countries to attend \u2013 explained<\/a> that they thought the heightened attention accorded to Ebola in the run-up to the summit would unfairly refuel Guinea\u2019s image as \u201ctoo risky\u201d and might scare off investors.<\/p>\n

While the summit produced help in the Ebola crisis, Cond\u00e9 also conducted high level meetings with mining investors to discuss over US$20 billion in investments. <\/p>\n

Ebola denialism in Guinea had its roots in a fear that Ebola would panic investors. On August 14, 2014 after the US summit, Cond\u00e9 ordered a national health emergency, months after the outbreak was declared. The delay in casting Ebola as a national emergency in Guinea contributed<\/a> to growing infection rates and deaths in the country. <\/p>\n

Quest for power trumps public welfare<\/h2>\n

Cond\u00e9\u2019s approach to the Ebola crisis and his courting of business and mining interests continued a history<\/a> of African leaders who employ extraversion strategies. These strategies allow elites to marshal resources and finances that are derived from their external global relationships. Such leaders have opened their economies to investors, letting them divert resources for corrupt purposes<\/a> that extend their political and economic control in the state.<\/p>\n

Such policies provided the basis for Cond\u00e9 to consolidate power through a stronger patrimonial network and tighter personal and familial control over the country\u2019s mining interests. That control gave him confidence when he sought to extend his time in office beyond the constitutionally prescribed two terms<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Cond\u00e9 got a third term in office in 2020<\/a>. But his government was overthrown in a military coup in September 2021<\/a>. The coup leader, Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, cited Cond\u00e9\u2019s lack of leadership, his corruption, and Guinea\u2019s lack of development as motivation. <\/p>\n

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Read more: Guinea coup highlights the weaknesses of West Africa’s regional body<\/a> <\/strong> <\/em>\n<\/p>\n

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Guinea\u2019s lack of development, though not new, is particularly poignant as the country moves through its current COVID-19 wave, with little or no improvement in its basic and medical infrastructure. Notably, Doumbouya was quick to assure mining investors that their contracts were safe<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Future uncertain<\/h2>\n

Cond\u00e9\u2019s pursuit of mining interests during the Ebola crisis may have foreshadowed his demise as he tightened his grip over power and plundered the state\u2019s wealth<\/a>, as many before him did.<\/p>\n

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Read more: Guinea has a long history of coups: here are 5 things to know about the country<\/a> <\/strong> <\/em>\n<\/p>\n

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While Guinea\u2019s people were happy to see him go<\/a>, the country\u2019s history of corrupt leaders<\/a> and persistent underdevelopment<\/a> mean hope for real change may be a dream under a new military regime.<\/p>\n

Source: The Conversation<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than 11,300 people died when the Ebola virus ripped through three West African countries \u2013 Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia \u2013 from 2014 to 2016. It was the worst Ebola outbreak in known history. But the differences in responses to the outbreak, particularly in its early stages, were puzzling. While the outbreak worsened during […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":204739,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4584],"tags":[3257],"class_list":{"0":"post-204738","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-africa-news-2","8":"tag-mypr","9":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/papers-show-what-lay-behind-conde-regimes-ebola-denialism-in-guinea-scaled.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204738\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}