The president of Guinea, Lansana Conte died after suffering from prolonged illness. Announcing the death of Conte, the head of the army, Aboubacar Sompare stated that the president breathed his last on Monday (December 22) evening. However, he did not elaborate the cause of the death. Although the government has never disclosed the birth date of Lansana Conte, it is believed that he was 70 years old.

 

Lansana Conte came to power in a military coup a week after the 1984 death of Ahmed Sekou Toure, Guinea's first president after gaining independence from France in 1958. After holding the reign of the African country, Lansana Conte abandoned Toure's revolutionary socialist agenda. Conte formed a political party and in 1993 won the country's first multi-party presidential election. He was re-elected in 1998 and 2003, though the opposition rejected the elections in protest.

 

Believed to be one of the last members of a dwindling group of so-called African Big Men, Conte ruled Guinea with an iron hand. Even though the country is rich in minerals like bauxite and ore used to make aluminum, about 10 million people of Guinea live below poverty line.