Guinea’s president says no one will be immune from corruption

Guinean President Oumaro Sissoko Embalo said this Saturday that as long as he is head of state, no citizen will be above the law and no one will invoke immunity or special privileges to escape justice for corrupt acts.

The President was speaking at the opening of an anti-corruption campaign in Guinea-Bissau led by the Ministry of Justice.

In front of judges and the Attorney General of the Republic, Sissoko, Embalo supported the campaign against corruption and said it was “one of the ways to help Guinea-Bissau move forward.”

“You will help bring glory to this country. There is no immunity or privilege for corruption,” he said.

The Guinean President’s statements come while Economy and Finance Minister Souleymane Seydi and Finance Minister António Monteiro are in preventive detention by order of the State Ministry.

They are accused of illegally paying 11 businessmen who were allegedly government creditors in a process that prosecutors say is fraudulent.

Guinea’s president told magistrates they could count on his “full support” in the fight against corruption and said no one could claim to serve the state and not respect the country’s laws.

“As long as Oumaro Sissoko Embalo is President of Guinea-Bissau, no citizen will be above the law. The one called by the Prosecutor General’s Office is not happy to go to court,” he said.

The Guinean head of state said that since the country gained independence, “no one has fought corruption,” and noted that every citizen should be able to support his vices.

“Only in Guinea-Bissau can you see a man who has never played for Barcelona or Real Madrid with houses and other property,” the president said, promising “full cooperation” to the prosecutor’s judges.