Guinea’s exiled former PM Sidya Touré to be buried in Ivory Coast
Even in death, former Guinean Prime Minister Sidya Touré will remain in exile, as his family says he will be buried in Ivory Coast, RFI reported.
The 81-year old died in Paris last weekwhere he had been receiving treatment after falling ill in Abidjan.
Touré had been living in exile in Ivory Coast since the 2021 military coup that brought Guinea’s current presidentMamadi Doumbouya to power.
Guinean president Lansana Conte, in power between 1984 and 2008, had appointed Touré as prime minister in July 1996, a role he served in until March 1999.
His tenure was marked by administrative and economic reforms, as well as efforts to strengthen Guinea’s relations with international financial institutions.
But he remained a leading opposition figure in Guinea as head of one of the country’s major opposition parties, the Union of Republican Forces. The UFR was one of 40 political parties dissolved in March in a major crackdown on civil liberties.
A burial in Guinea was “inconceivable” due to the “humiliations” Touré suffered “at the hands of the Guinean authorities,” his party said.
Touré’s body is due to arrive in Abidjan on Friday.
