Guineans mark '50 years of poverty'

from the BBC

By Will Ross

As Guineans mark their 50th year of independence from France, a popular cry to be heard in the capital, Conakry, is: "Fifty years of poverty!"

"We would rather have poverty in freedom than riches in slavery," the country's independence leader, Sekou Toure, told the then French President General Charles de Gaulle in 1958.

With those words ringing in his ears, Gen de Gaulle reportedly left in a rage, forgetting his cap on the table.

Days later Guineans voted overwhelmingly in a referendum to go it alone.

It was a bold step and one for which Guinea was punished.

The French withdrew their expertise and assistance, ensuring that Guinea's road ahead was steep.

Nowhere illustrates Guinea's recent demise better than the train station in Conakry.

Completed in 1914, the construction of the 700km (435 miles) track to Kankan was a French project partly to aid with the export of fruit.

But the trains ground to a final halt in May 1995.

They may have stopped 13 years ago but several of the workers still sit around the station, which now hosts a variety of businesses from tailoring to welding.

"When we left school the railway was in good condition and it was a great way to get around the country," recalls Fode Bangoura, who still runs the defunct depot.

"My father worked on the railway and it was a good job and that's why I also joined, but as it fell into disrepair it became more and more difficult to keep it going."

Pride

Despite this setback, Mr Bangoura is still proud of the country's history.

"We are very proud of the 50th anniversary. I was seven years old at independence. Our parents danced all night and so we joined in."

However, 89-year-old Mohamed Bashir Toure was not dancing or singing at the time.

"I was very happy with the French," he said with some frustration.

"Life was good then. We had all we needed and I voted to stay with the French.

"Now we lack electricity - everything is ruined."

Mr Toure would even welcome the return of the French - a comment that brings giggles and cries of "colonialist" from his relatives.

It seems he is not alone.

"I would welcome them back with open arms," says Fanta Kande who runs a food canteen in Conakry.

"I think independence was a huge mistake. If the French came back and worked with us and ran things in order to help us then why not?"

Guineans are by and large extremely proud of their independence history but people are sick and tired of bad governance and the problems that brings.

"We have no electricity or safe water," says medical student Oscar Loua Tokpagnan.

"We are in a difficult situation because when the students complete it's almost impossible for them to get a job."

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