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. -------------- THE SYSTEM DOESN'T REPRESENT US -------------- ¶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. -------------- INSIGHTS INTO THE NATIONAL COUNCIL EFFORT -------------- ¶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. -------------- ASSISTANCE IS NEEDED -------------- ¶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. -------------- THOUGHTS ON KOUYATE -------------- 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. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶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