Ahmed Sekou Toure

From Philosopedia

Ahmed Sékou Touré (9 January 1922 - 26 March 1984)

Touré was born in Guinea to a poor family that were members of the Malinké ethnic group. He was the grandson of Samory Touré, who had resisted French rule until he was captured.

He was a labor union activist who, in 1945, became general secretary of the postal workers' union. (1945). He organized the Union Générale des Travailleurs d'Afrique Noir in 1956.

Beginning in 1946 and with other African nationalist leaders, he was a founder of the Rassemblement Démocratique Africain. In 1956 he was elected Guinea's deputy to the French national assembly and mayor of Conakry. Winning the referendum for independence, he led Guinea out of the French Community (1958), becoming Guinea's president (1958 to 1984).

A Marxist, he sought aid from the Soviet bloc. In 1978 he abandoned Marxism, led economic liberalization, and reestablished trade with the West. Running unopposed, Touré was reelected in 1982.

Although raised among Muslims, Touré was not a member of any of the organized religious groups.

Although some accused Touré the Pan-Africanist of being too brutal, locking up his political opponents, the controversial Stokely Carmichael, who fled to Guinea in 1969 after charges filed against him for his leadership of left-wing civil rights movements, said, "In all the world's great historical movements from, Christ's to Gandhi's, blood has had to flow. If anything, I think Sékou Touré was too soft."

Touré died in Cleveland, Ohio, while undergoing heart surgery.

A Radio Netherlands Evaluation

Europeans first established contact with Guinea in the 15th century. In the 19th century, the French launched expeditions into the hinterland. In a bid to prevent the British from linking The Gambia with Sierra Leone, the French forced dozens of small rulers to sign protection treaties. In the 1880s, Almamy Samory Touré mounted the first serious opposition to the French, but they defeated his guerrilla army and deported him. He later became Guinea's first national hero.

In the beginning of the 20th century, the French started to exploit Guinea's natural resources, such as rubber, coffee and bauxite. Guinea has nearly a third of the world's reserves of bauxite or aluminium ore.

We prefer poverty in freedom to riches in slavery. - Ahmed Sékou Touré

Guinea's struggle for independence from France was led by Ahmed Sékou Touré. He was elected mayor of the capital, Conakry, in 1955, when he was just 33 years old. Unlike some of the other African leaders, such as Senegal's Léopold Senghor or Félix Houphouët-Boigny of Ivory Coast, Sékou Touré was a strong proponent of an independent West African federation of states.

After coming to power in France, General Charles de Gaulle paid a visit to Conakry to convince Sékou Touré that he should give up some of Guinea's sovereignty to France. Sékou Touré refused, saying "we prefer poverty in freedom to riches in slavery". 95% of Guineans voted in a referendum not to stay in the French community. Guinea declared independence on October 2, 1958.

When it became a sovereign nation, Guinea had only six university graduates, no technical expertise and only a little over 1% of children were attending primary school. France severed all ties with Guinea and sabotaged the country's infrastructure. Eastern Bloc countries, including the former Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia, provided Guinea with assistance.

Everything became rotten. - Sékou Touré

The Soviet Union soon fell out with Guinea, but it continued to provide aid. The United States also began providing substantial assistance, and the Peace Corps was sent in. Sékou Touré adopted a policy of "positive neutrality", refusing to be anybody's puppet. He strongly favoured Pan Africanism and helped write the charter of the Organisation of African Unity. Sékou Touré also created a planned economy but with dismal results. He later wrote, "everything became rotten. The elite enjoyed riding in cars and building villas." - Source: The Rough Guide to West Africa