The 2008 Guinean coup d'état occurred in Guinea on 23 December 2008, shortly after the death of long-time President Lansana Conté. A junta called the National Council for Democracy and Development (), headed by Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, seized power and announced that it planned to rule the country for two years prior to a new presidential election. Camara did indeed step down after Alpha Condé was elected in the 2010 election.
Death of Conté
In the early hours of 23 December 2008, Aboubacar Somparé, the President of the National Assembly, announced on television that Conté had died at 6:45 pm local time the previous day "after a long illness." While Somparé did not name the particular illness, sources reported that Conté had chronic diabetes and leukemia. According to the Constitution, the President of the National Assembly is to assume the Presidency in the event of a vacancy, and a new presidential election is to be held within 60 days. Somparé requested that the President of the Supreme Court, Lamine Sidimé, declare a vacancy in the Presidency and apply the Constitution. Prime Minister Ahmed Tidiane Souaré and General Diarra Camara, the head of the army, stood alongside Somparé during his announcement. Declaring 40 days of national mourning for Conté, Souaré urged "calm and restraint". He told the army to secure the borders and maintain calm within the country "in homage to the memory of the illustrious late leader".
Government officials met at the People's Palace, seat of the National Assembly, in the early hours of 23 December. Prime Minister Souaré, Somparé, the President of the Supreme Court, and military leaders were present.
Speaking to Radio France Internationale after Conté's death, opposition leader Jean-Marie Doré of the Union for the Progress of Guinea stressed that the institutions of state must "be able to work to prevent unnecessary disorder in Guinea which would add to the current difficult situation".
Announcement of coup d'état
Six hours after Somparé announced Conté's death, a statement was read on state radio announcing a military coup d'état. This statement, read by Captain Moussa Dadis Camara on behalf of a group called the National Council for Democracy and Development (CNDD), said that "the government and the institutions of the Republic have been dissolved." The statement also announced the suspension of the constitution "as well as political and union activity." According to Captain Camara, the coup was necessary due to Guinea's "deep despair" amidst rampant poverty and corruption, and he said that the existing institutions were "incapable of resolving the crises which have been confronting the country." Furthermore, Camara said that someone from the military would become President, while a civilian would be appointed as Prime Minister at the head of a new government that would be ethnically balanced. The National Council for Democracy and Development would, according to Camara, include 26 officers as well as six civilians.
Reporting from Conakry at the time of the coup announcement, Alhassan Sillah of the BBC said that the situation in the city was "unusually quiet" and that he had not seen any soldiers. Later in the day, several tanks were seen in the city.
Following Camara's announcement, Souaré said the government and state institutions were intact. According to Souaré, he did not know who was behind the coup attempt, but he said that he was "sure that they will see reason. They have not used force. There has been no threat against anybody." Somparé, meanwhile, called the coup attempt "a setback for our country" and expressed hope that it would not succeed. He argued that most soldiers were still loyal to the government.
It was reported that soldiers at the Alfa Yaya Diallo military camp had chosen a lieutenant-colonel, Sékouba Konaté, as leader of the coup attempt, although some soldiers objected because they believed a higher-ranking officer should have been chosen. The chief of the armed forces, General Diarra Camara, said that the coup plotters represented only a minority of the army. In the afternoon of 23 December, amidst confusion about who was in control of the country, Gen. Camara asked that the soldiers "at least wait until after [Conté's] funeral", while also stating that he was not trying to prevent anyone's ambitions.