Guinea: Alpha Conde Was Sworn in for His Third Mandate

Guinean President Alpha Condé was sworn in on Tuesday for a third mandate after violent elections whose result was denied by the country's opposition.

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The 82-year old leader of the Rally of the Guinean People Party (RPG) promoted a constitutional reform in March to extend the presidential term beyond the limit of two mandates of five years each.

In response, the opposition branded the reform as unconstitutional and boycotted the elections resulting in deadly clashes between the opposition and Condé supporters. The president took office for the first time in 2010.

His followers highlighted that Condé has brought economic stability to the country while the opposition said that his government practiced authoritarianism and human rights violations.

"I swear before the Guinean people and on my honor, to respect and scrupulously enforce the provisions of the constitution of laws and decision of justice, to defend the constitutional institutions, the integrity of the territory and national independence, in case of perjury, that I endure the laws and the rigors of the law," Condé said during his inauguration, as he called for a future of "unity and hope."

Condé won the October 18 elections with 59.5 percent of the votes in the in the nation of 13 million, one of Africa's poorest. His rival, Cellou Dalein Diallo from the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (UFDG), tried to challenge him in 2010 and 2015 but failed on both occasions. Condé was also the first democratically elected president in Guinea after its independence from France in 1958.