Guineans were voting to elect a new president in the country’s first election since a 2021 coup. The election on Sunday featured a weakened opposition with a total of nine candidates. Analysts have predicted a likely win for junta leader Gen. Mamadi Doumbouya. The election in Guinea is the latest such vote among African countries that have seen a surge in coups in recent years. Voting officially closed at 7 p.m. local time as electoral officials started counting votes across the polling units. Doumbouya’s closest challenger is the little-known Yero Baldé of the Democratic Front of Guinea party, a former education minister. More than half of Guinea’s 15 million people are experiencing record levels of poverty and food insecurity despite its rich mineral resources.
