Papa Koly Kourouma (born 1962 in N'Zérékoré) is a Guinean telecommunications engineer and statesman. After a career in the aviation sector, he entered politics in 2008, occupying various ministerial positions under successive regimes, including that of Minister of State for Hydraulics and Sanitation from 2019 to 2021 under the chairmanship of Alpha Condé.
Unfortunate candidate for the 2010 presidential election, he created his own political parties such as the RDR and then the GRUP. A clashing personality, he supported the draft new Constitution aimed at allowing a third presidential term, provoking fierce controversy before being removed from power by the military coup in September 2021.
Introduction
Papa Koly Kourouma (born 1962 in N'Zérékoré, Forest Guinea) is a leading Guinean civil servant and telecommunications engineer. After a career in the aviation sector, he entered politics in 2008, occupying various ministerial positions under successive regimes. He was a candidate in the 2010 presidential election before joining the camp of President-elect Alpha Condé. In 2019, he was appointed Minister of State for Hydraulics and Sanitation, a position he held until the 2021 coup d'état.
Éducation
Born in Gouékoya, N'Zérékoré Prefecture, Papa Koly Kourouma began his studies in 1968 in his hometown. After obtaining his primary education certificate in 1974, he continued his education at the college of Mamou where he obtained his BEPC in 1977. From 1978 to 1980, he studied at the Lycée Cabral de Mamou, receiving two bachelor's degrees.
In 1980, he moved to Conakry to pursue postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Electrotechnics, where he graduated as a telecommunications engineer in 1985. Subsequently, he enriched his career with a certificate in commercial engineering and marketing at Educatel Liège in Belgium between 1986 and 1989, as well as a training on illegal immigration in New York in 1996.
Parcours professionnel
After graduating as an engineer, Papa Koly Kourouma conducted an aircraft operating system trainer training internship at Air France's training centre in 1990. From 1992 to 1995, he served as the head of stopover service at Air Africa Conakry. Between 1995 and 1997, he served as deputy head of office for the same company before being promoted to head of sales promotion between 1998 and 2000.
Since 2010, Papa Koly Kourouma has chaired the Maa Gbokou International Corporation (MAGIC), a major complex of private-law Guinean companies.
Parcours politique
Papa Koly Kourouma's political career began in 2008 when he was appointed Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development by the ruling military junta. (CNDD). He cumulated this post with the post of Minister of Decentralization.
In 2009, Papa Koly Kourouma created his own political party, the Rassemblement pour la Défense de la République (RDR), under whose banner he presented himself in the 2010 presidential election. He came 5th in the first round with 5.85% of the vote. In the second round, he made an alliance and supported Alpha Condé of the Guinean People's Assembly (RPG).
Disappointed by the failure to comply with the agreements reached according to him, Papa Koly Kourouma quickly took his distance with the RPG. In 2015, he created a new party, the Generation for Reconciliation, Union and Progress (GRUP), from which he won the presidential election without success.
Despite their differences, Papa Koly Kourouma eventually re-entered the presidential team by being appointed Minister of State for Hydraulics and Sanitation on 5 April 2019, in the Kassory I and then II government. He remained in this post until the military coup d'état of September 5, 2021, which overthrew President Alpha Condé.
Controverses et polémiques
In April 2021, Papa Koly Kourouma expressed his wish to see some exemptions granted to companies involved in the exploitation of water resources abolished. According to him, these unjustified tax exemptions deprived the Hydraulic Fund of significant financial resources. An inter-departmental committee has been set up to consider the recovery of these fees.
During the campaign for the constitutional referendum to allow a third presidential term to Alpha Condé at the end of 2019, Papa Koly Kourouma multiplied the controversial speeches. In Kouroussa, he argued that the president had "the right to consult with the people", appearing to defend a possible third term despite strong popular opposition.
On his arrival at the Ministry of Hydraulics and Sanitation, Papa Koly Kourouma acknowledged the importance of the challenge of insalubrity in Conakry, evoking many "black spots" in the capital. It has pledged to rebuild the broken infrastructure and apply the polluter-pays principle with new contracts for the pre-collection of waste. The long-awaited relocation of the toxic landfill from Dar Es Salaam to Coyah, however, remained at a dead end despite ongoing studies.
Vie privée
Papa Koly Kourouma is a married man and father of four children. He was raised to the rank of a Muslim dignitary and was awarded the honorary title of Elhadj.
Conclusion
An engineer who has become an influential politician, Papa Koly Kourouma has held leading roles in the various Guinea regimes in recent years. A cliving personality who defended the draft new Constitution of Alpha Condé, he was confronted with many controversies, on the management of hydraulic resources. His political future remains uncertain following the 2021 coup, but his atypical course makes him an indispensable player in contemporary Guinean public life.
