Guinea began voting on Sunday in its first presidential election since the 2021 military coup, with interim leader General Mamady Doumbouya widely expected to secure a decisive victory.
The vote marks a critical moment in the country’s political trajectory, following years of military rule and a tightly controlled transition process.
Polling stations opened at 07:00 GMT and were due to close at 18:00 GMT, with approximately 6.7 million registered voters eligible to participate.
Doumbouya, a former special forces commander who seized power in September 2021, faces eight other candidates in a fragmented field lacking a strong challenger.
Former president Alpha Conde and longtime opposition figure Cellou Dalein Diallo remain in exile and are not contesting the election.
Provisional results are expected within days, according to electoral authorities.
Political debate has been limited during the campaign, with opposition groups and civil society organisations accusing the authorities of suppressing dissent.
Civil society groups say protests have been banned, opposition activities curtailed, and press freedoms restricted under the current administration.
United Nations rights chief Volker Turk said the campaign period “has been severely restricted, marked by intimidation of opposition actors, apparently politically motivated enforced disappearances, and constraints on media freedom”.
He warned that such conditions risk undermining the credibility of the electoral process.
Opposition leaders have called for a boycott, with Diallo denouncing the vote as “an electoral charade” designed to legitimise continued military control.
A new constitution approved in September allows military leaders to run for office and extends presidential terms from five to seven years, renewable once.
Guinea’s vast natural resources have played a central role in the political narrative surrounding the election.
The country holds the world’s largest bauxite reserves and a major untapped iron ore deposit at Simandou, which was officially launched last month.
Doumbouya has credited his administration with advancing the project and promoting greater state control over resource revenues.
His government also revoked the licence of Guinea Alumina Corporation following a dispute, transferring its assets to a state-owned firm.
This turn toward resource nationalism, combined with Doumbouya’s relative youth in a country with a low median age, has helped bolster his domestic support.