Claim: A viral Facebook message has been crediting ousted Guinea President Alpha Conde for some infrastructural development in Guinea with photos of an expressway and a couple of buildings captioning it “See what Alpha Conde Did for Guinea.”
A quarter of the photos are not of Guinean infrastructures and the ones that are include some projects that were not built during Alpha Conde’s era.
Full Text
Following the September 12, 2021 coup d’etat that ousted Guinean President, Professor Alpha Conde from power, social media have been awash with several messages relating to the coup. Whilst a number of the photos captured and shared online have been related to the coup that was led by leader of the Special Force Lieutenant Colonel Mamadi Dumbuya, some of images are completely detached and unrelated to the events unfolding in the Francophone West African nation.
A photo of an expressway and several luxurious projects have been circulating with the caption “See what Alpha Conde has done for Guinea.”
The photos have been published by a Facebook page, SL Blog, with the caption “I will never leave Guinea in the hands of the bandits. Says Alpha Conde. See below what Professor Alpha Conde did for Guinea” and has so far seen over 417 likes and shared 40 times.
Professor Alphas Conde ascended the seat of power when he won the 2010 general elections in Guinea and had served for over a decade winning two terms before setting up a referendum to have the constitution favor his third term bid. The referendum which was mired in controversies was overwhelmingly in his favour and made him eligible to contest for a third term which he did and won amid protests and violent clashes.
Verification
A Google reverse image search shows the expressway has no connection to Alpha Conde and Guinea. It is an Algerian road project which Algerian Minister of Public Works in 2014, Mr. Abdelkader Kadi, launched to the east-west motorway and the port of Mostaganem.
“This 66-kilometer long road, which will link the east-west highway at the Hmadna interchange, will cross the localities of Hmadna, El Hamri, Khelaifia and Sidi Khettab to the east of the wilaya of Relizane and Oued El Kheir , Ouled El Bachir and Kheireddine in the wilaya of Mostaganem,” said the Minister of Public Work Mr. Abdelkader Kadi in 2014.
A second image of a power plant also accredited to Professor Alpha Conde in the viral Facebook post is equally misleading as the dam attached is not a Guinean property. Using Google reverse image search, we identified the dam as the INGA hydro plant connected to the Inga Fall in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Other photos
Whilst some of the images like the Grand Mosque and the Hotels are Guinean infrastructures, not all can be credited to Alpha Conde.
The Grand Mosque “Grande Mosquée Fayçal” which is the fourth biggest Mosque in the World and is located in Conakry was built in 1982 under Ahmed Sekou Turay while the Riviera Hotel was established in 2001, nine years before Conde took power.
The image below, identified as the Hotel Palm Camayenne is equally a Guinean project. This hotel was built by Russians in 1964 and went through different phases of refurbishment and management. It remained a state property until 2011 when it was reported that it had been bought by a Lebanese businessman, Michel Charter.
This image below is actually a Guinean infrastructure and it is the Sheraton Grand Conakry Hotel that was launched sometime in 2016. The Sheraton Grand Conakry Hotel marks Marriott International’s entry into Guinea and joins a portfolio of more than 35 Sheraton Grand properties worldwide, with destinations spanning Istanbul, Dubai, Bangalore, Beijing and beyond. This is therefore a private business venture and directly attributing it to Alpha Conde’s successes is misleading.
This next image is the Grand Diamond Plaza located in Kipe in Conakry and was actually commissioned by ousted President Alpha Condeh as sitting president and the CEO of CDG Yao Tianping in 2015. This was a China Dreal Group (CDG) real estate investment and it is popularly known as the International City of Conakry.
Plaza Diamond Kipe
Whilst most of these infrastructures are found in Guinea, it is clear from the analysis that they are private projects and investments-mostly hotels. Some of them were as well not done during the presidency of Conde and therefore not part of what President Alpha Conde has done for Guinea as captioned by the facebook post.
Conclusion
The images of infrastructural gains accredited to President Alpha Conde in the screenshots above are misleading.
Good job. We need factual news.