Lieutenant-Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, who took power in Guinea on Sunday September 5, 2021, was discovered by Guineans on Tuesday October 2, 2018 on the occasion of the celebration of the 60th anniversary of independence at the stadium September 28 located in the capital Conakry.

Colonel Mamady Doumbouya was born March 4, 1980 in the Kankan area, a border region close to the Ivory Coast and Mali.


At the head of a group of hooded uniformed men making up the Special Forces which arrested the President Alpha Condé, suspended the Constitution and dissolved the government and all institutions of the country.

The 41-year-old Guinean army officer, appointed commander of the Guinean Army Special Forces Group in 2018, was part of the French Foreign Legion where he rose to the rank of master corporal.

He graduated from École de Guerre (the School of War) in Paris, with more than fifteen years of military experience, in particular during operational missions (Afghanistan, Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Central African Republic) and close protection (Israel, Cyprus, United Kingdom, Guinea).

Lieutenant-Colonel Doumbouya, holds a Master 2 (bac + 5) defense and industrial dynamics at the Pantheon University Assas Paris II, defense expert in management, command and strategy.

This “Colossus with an impressive physique” as described by a spokesperson from Guinea’s Ministry of Defence, is a commando instructor with the French Foreign Legion.

Mamady Doumbouya brilliantly completed the operational protection specialist training at the International Security Academy (Israel), the unit commanders training course at the Infantry Application School (EAI – Senegal) and the training of staff officer (EEML Libreville) and the Paris War School.

“Colonel Doumbouya is able to identify and defuse risky situations by remaining calm in the face of a hostile environment and extreme pressure,” journalist Aladji Cellou, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense of Guinea.

“He adapts and improvises to any situation that requires self-control, risk assessment and quick decision-making,” he added.

This red beret assumed the heavy task of supervising this new unit of the Guinean Armed Forces, which until then had been unknown to the general public.

From the French Army Legion to the Guinean GPS

In 2018 he was recalled to Guinea to head an elite corps created by Alpha Condé in the same year: the Groupement des forces Spéciales (GPS).

He therefore left the French army’s foreign legion to respond to his country’s call.

Source: RFI and BBC