MIDDLE GUINEA'S YOUTH SAY THEY ARE POLITICALLY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CONAKRY 001177

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM GV
SUBJECT: MIDDLE GUINEA'S YOUTH SAY THEY ARE POLITICALLY
MARGINALIZED



1. (SBU) SUMMARY. Meetings with several representatives of
youth associations in Mamou and Labe, the regional
administrative capitals in Middle Guinea, suggest that this
segment of the population is politically marginalized. Youth
contacts said that the current political system does not
represent their interests. They also provided some insights
into attempts to establish a National Council of Youth in
September, an effort that they said failed due to political
manipulations. Youth representatives were critical of the
Kouyate administration, saying that the government has not
changed and there has not been any visible progress. END
SUMMARY.

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THE SYSTEM DOESN'T REPRESENT US
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2. (SBU) Poloff discussions with various youth associations
suggest that this part of the population may be marginalized
politically. With youth loosely considered those between the
ages of 15 and 40, this group represents the majority of the
population and includes a significant number of the
country,s unemployed (both university educated and not).
Representatives expressed a common belief that political
parties and the government have traditionally only been
interested in them during election periods. Once the
elections are over,, one said, they forget about us.,
Other representatives said that it was only after the strikes
that parties and the government started paying attention to
them since they saw the role that young people played. One
representative commented it is always the youth that
represent political change and they are starting to see
that., However, many youth representatives did not feel
that the current political system represents their interests.


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INSIGHTS INTO THE NATIONAL COUNCIL EFFORT
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3. (SBU) Youth representatives also commented on efforts to
establish a National Council of Youth in order to give
strength and unity to their political voice. A meeting was
reportedly organized in September to establish this Council,
but failed due to alleged political manipulations. A number
of youth contacts reported that both Prime Minister Kouyate
and President Conte were financially contributing to specific
youth organizations in order to generate political support.
A representative in Labe said that Kouyate,s wife gave about
$10,000 to Kouyate,s nephew and asked him to work towards
establishing a national youth council. At the same time,
Conte reportedly gave more than $26,000 to someone else, also
with the intent of establishing a national council. Contacts
in both Labe and Mamou said that they had personally been
offered money to participate in the Council, which they
refused.


4. (SBU) The national meeting was supposed to take place in
Dalaba, in the heart of Middle Guinea. Due to numerous
political manipulations, contacts said many youth groups
refused to participate even after traveling to Dalaba.
After seeing what was going on, we decided to go home,,
one said. All youth contacts agreed that they need to
organize politically if they want to play a political role.
However, we will do that at the grass roots level on our
own terms. We don,t want someone coming in from the top and
telling us we need to set it up and how it should be done,,
one said.

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ASSISTANCE IS NEEDED
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5. (SBU) Youth contacts in Labe said that effective civic
participation training programs are essential. Others
pointed out that this segment of the population is largely
unoccupied pointing to lack of jobs, lack of activities and
lack of appropriate cultural and sports facilities. We are
almost completely abandoned,, one said. The Youth Program
Coordinator of Labe, a government employee, said that the
Ministry of Youth has a national program regarding the
nation,s youth, but lacks the resources to effectively
implement the program. He added that the Labe Youth House, a
common gathering place for youth provided by the government
in many towns and villages, was transformed into a classroom
and Labe,s youth now have no place to meet.

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THOUGHTS ON KOUYATE
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CONAKRY 00001177 002 OF 002




6. (SBU) Contacts throughout the region were generally
supportive of Prime Minister Kouyate and said that his
administration is making acceptable progress (reported
septel). However, youth contacts were more critical. One
said we are still waiting for change, we haven,t seen
anything in the last six months., Another added that for
change to happen, people need to speak the truth, and that is
not happening within the government. Labe youths specified
that they do not see the legislative elections as a mechanism
for change. That,s just an exercise for the political
parties,, one said, we need to see change before the
elections take place., Another commented that the new
government is basically the same as the former one, that
there is no real change underneath the surface.
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COMMENT
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7. (SBU) Discussions with youth representatives suggest that
there may be a significant disconnect between the
population's young people and government leaders and civil
society. Based on meetings reported septel, most contacts
from the older generation seemed to believe that the
population will patiently wait for elections and promised
economic changes as long as they see that things are
progressing. However, the youths seemed to feel
marginalized. For them, change needs to happen soon and
there has not been enough progress to assure them that things
are moving at an acceptable pace. END COMMENT.
BROKENSHIRE