The ruling National Council for Democracy and Development in Guinea has announced it will investigate all areas of government management under late president Lansana Conte. Many of the country's present politicians will most likely be involved in the inquiry.
In what it calls an effort to restore trust between the citizens of Guinea and its government, the country's ruling military announced last Saturday it will conduct a wide-sweeping audit of the past government's activities.
The National Council for Democracy and Development, known as the CNDD, says it will also look into its own management during the past six months that it has controlled the country. The military took over the West African nation in a coup in December 2008, after longtime president Lansana Conte died.
Sidya Toure was prime minister under Mr. Conte for nearly three years in the late 1990s. As a current member of the political party, Union of Republican Forces, Toure is one of the many serving politicians who will most likely be looked at during the audit.
Toure says as a citizen of Guinea, he is concerned about the management of the country, but he is not worried personally. He adds those who were responsible for past wrongdoings should be held responsible.
The Union for Progress and Renewal party president, Ousmane Bah, says good governance is logical and necessary if Guinea is to advance.
Bah adds that for the country to work with its development partners and within the international financial community, it is a requirement that the public affairs, public finances and the entire country be better managed.
But lawyer Almamy Traore, a member of the Guinean Bar, says there are other more pressing problems for the country to deal with at the moment.
Traore says the National Council for Democracy and Development should address more vital issues such as water and electricity. He says now is the time to talk about opportunity, and he adds it is difficult to find out who mismanaged, because there was a time period when the fundamental rules were suspended.
The ruling council has invited international audit firms to conduct the audit, a move that it says is more likely to insure independence. Specific sectors that will be audited include the Central Bank of the Republic of Guinea, road funds, and gold mining companies.
The council also said action will be taken against those who are found to have committed any criminal actions.
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