Guinea Declares Independence (1958)

Thu Oct 02, 1958

Image: The President of Guinea, Sekou Toure, alongside American President John F. Kennedy in 1962. From the JFK Library.

On this day in 1958, Guinea achieved total and immediate independence from France, the first sub-Saharan African nation to do so and the only former French colony to not join the "French Community". Sékou Touré served as its first President.

This independence came just four days after a national constitutional referendum on whether or not to adopt a French-approved constitution, which would have Guinea join the French Community (Communauté française), an economic and diplomatic association of former French territories.

Guineans overwhelmingly voted against the constitution - the African Elections Database lists 95% voting against with an 85% turnout rate - aiming to sever all ties to France and declare immediate independence.

On October 2nd 1958, Pan-African socialist Ahmed Sékou Touré, then Guinea's deputy to the French National Assembly, proclaimed the Republic of Guinea, serving as its first President.

Guinea would be the first of France's sub-Saharan colonies to achieve independence, and the only one to reject incorporation into the short-lived French Community.

"We have told you bluntly, Mr. President, what the demands of the people are...We have one prime and essential need: our dignity. But there is no dignity without freedom...We prefer freedom in poverty to opulence in slavery."

-Ahmed Sékou Touré to French President Charles De Gaulle, 1958

• Date: 1958-10-02
• Learn More: www.webguinee.net, www.nonviolent-conflict.org, en.wikipedia.org.
• Tags: #Independence.
• Source: www.apeoplescalendar.org