Exiled former Prime Minister dies in Paris

Sidya Toure, former Prime Minister and a leading opposition figure in Guinea where dissenting voices and political parties have been stifled, has died at age 81, sources told AFP. Toure had been leading one of the country's major opposition parties, the Union of Republican Forces (UFR), from exile in Ivory Coast, reports africanews. UFR was among 40 political parties dissolved in March in a major crackdown on civil liberties under the country's longtime strongman Mamady Doumbouya. Toure died Friday in Paris after several decades at the forefront of Guinean public life. Toure had lived in Abidjan since leaving Guinea following the September 2021 military coup that brought Doumbouya to power. Doumbouya was subsequently elected President of the west African nation last December in a vote that did not include any significant opposition such as the UFR or the country's two other main opposition parties. Guinean President Lansana Conte, in power between 1984 and 2008, had appointed Toure as Prime Minister in July 1996, a role he served in until March 1999. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by administrative and economic reforms, as well as efforts to strengthen Guinea's relations with international financial institutions. After leaving the government, Toure became head of the UFR in 2000. He gradually became a leading figure opposing Conte and subsequent governments. Former President Alpha Conde, under whom Toure served despite a number of disagreements, wrote in a statement that it remained 'deeply regrettable that a man who gave so much to his country should have endured the ordeal of exile at the end of his life’.

Full africanews report