REMEMBERING AHMED SÉKOU TOURÉ

Guinea's founding leader, Ahmed Sékou Touré - one of Africa's leading statesmen of all time - was born on this day (9 January) in 1922.

As a child, he attended a Koranic school - before proceeding to a French technical school in the capital, Conakry, in his teens. However, his stay there was short-lived, as he was expelled less than a year after admission for leading a student protest.

This led him to join the labour market at an early age. His first job was as a clerk at a French-owned company in 1940, before joining the country's postal and telecommunication services company the following year.

It was there that he announced his arrival in politics. He became a vocal labour activist. In 1945, he founded the country's first trade union, the Post and Telecommunications Workers’ Union, becoming its first secretary general.

In 1953, he helped coordinate the region's major labour strike. The strike, which lasted over 76 days, was seen as a significant victory for the country's workers, who scored a 20 per cent pay rise and a 40-hour working week.

His trailblazing track record in the labour sector helped cement his role as an emerging anti-colonial leader. In the 1950s, he won several political offices before becoming mayor of Conakry in 1955 and a member of the French National Assembly in 1956.

He used those positions to mobilise his fellow citizens towards the goal of national emancipation, rejecting attempts by Paris to have the West African nation remain part of the so-called French Community.

In 1958, Guineans voted overwhelmingly to sever ties with France, despite Paris' threats to end all forms of economic and technical support for Guinea.

Upon becoming president, Touré embarked on a massive economic and social reform programme to wean the country off dependency on the former colonial power.

But his revolutionary exploits went beyond the borders of his homeland. On what would have been the Guinean icon's 103rd birthday, we look at his achievements and why he was admired by pan-Africans worldwide.

Sources:

https://www.liberationnews.org/07-04-01-uprising-in-guinea-problems-faci-html/

https://aaprp-intl.org/ahmed-sekou-toure-at-100/
https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/toure-ahmed-sekou-1922-1984/