Guinea’s military government says a long-promised referendum on a new constitution will take place this September. The vote is seen as a first step towards a return to civilian rule, which the junta had previously promised would happen by the end of 2024.
“The date for the referendum for the adoption of the new constitution is set for Sunday 21 September 2025,” said General Amara Camara, secretary general of the presidency, during a televised address on Tuesday.
He was reading a presidential decree, the French news agency AFP reported.
Guinea‘s junta, led by General Mamadi Doumbouya, seized power in a coup in September 2021. It had promised, under international pressure, to hold a constitutional vote and then transfer power to elected civilians.
Neither of those commitments has been met.
In his New Year’s address, Doumbouya said 2025 would be a “crucial electoral year to complete the return to constitutional order”, but gave no timeline.
While Doumbouya has publicly said several times that he does not intend to run for president, those close to him are reportedly urging him to enter the race.
A “transition charter” adopted by the junta shortly after the coup bars members of the military government or other state institutions from standing in elections. However, that restriction could be lifted if a new constitution is passed.
The referendum announcement came just four days after General Doumbouya granted a presidential pardon to former ruler Moussa Dadis Camara, who had been serving a 20-year sentence for crimes against humanity.
Camara led the country from 2008 to 2010.
In July 2024, following a nearly two-year trial, he was convicted for his role in the 28 September 2009 massacre in Conakry, where at least 156 people were killed and hundreds more injured during the violent crackdown on an opposition rally.
At least 109 women were raped, a UN-backed investigation found.
The government said Camara’s pardon was granted for “health reasons”. But the decision drew strong criticism from rights organisations.
“This decision should be reversed,” said Seif Magango, spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office, in a statement on Tuesday.
Drissa Traoré, secretary general of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), called the pardon “a disregard for the fundamental principles of justice, accountability and the fight against impunity”.
His comments appeared in a joint statement with two Guinean human rights groups.
On 26 March, just two days before the pardon, Doumbouya had announced that the government would “cover the costs of compensating the victims of the massacre”.
The junta faces growing criticism at home and abroad. Opposition parties and civil society groups accuse the military of clamping down on free expression and delaying the transition process.
Protests demanding the military’s departure are often banned. Several media outlets have been shut down, and some opposition figures are reported missing.
The junta has said tackling corruption is one of its top priorities. Doumbouya has promised there will be no “witch hunts”, however opposition groups say the justice system is being used to target critics.
Guinea, which gained independence from France in 1958, has been ruled by a series of authoritarian governments. Despite its vast deposits of bauxite, gold and other minerals, most of the population continues to live in poverty.
The upcoming referendum will be closely watched by regional and international observers, many of whom have urged the junta to follow through on its commitments and restore democratic rule.
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