The National Council of Democracy and Development (CNDD), the ruling military-civilian junta in Guinea since 23 December, Wednesda y reduced the price of gasoline from 5,500, to 3,000 Guinean francs (GF) per lit r e. (US $ 1 = GF 4,700)..
The announcement of the new measure was welcome with shouts of joy and comments by the citizenry, who described the new leaders of the country as “rescuers”.
The new price came into force as from midnight Wednesday in the country, where t he litre was sold recently for GF 7,000 before it was brought to GF 5,500 in Nov e mber.
The tariff set at GF 5,500 had provoked incidents in Conakry where the people fe lt the government could do better had barricaded the streets and thrown missiles
before being chased away by law enforcement agents, who arrested some and injure d several demonstrators.
The former Prime Minister, Ahmed Tidiane Souaré, whose government was dissolved by the CNDD, then called it a “plot of secret forces” who encouraged the demonst r ators to commit “irreparable acts.”
