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CONAKRY —Guinea has handed over a plot of land to thousands forcibly evicted by previous governments, with some of the victims having waited more than 25 years for compensation.
More than 20,000 people were displaced when the government of former president Alpha Conde demolished the Kaporo-Rails, Kipe 2, Dimesse, and Dar Es Salam neighborhoods of the capital Conakry between February and May 2019, according to Human Rights Watch.
The government said the land belonged to the state and would be used for official buildings.
A previous round of demolitions took place in the same area of Conakry in 1998, under the rule of president Lansana Conte.
At a jubilant ceremony on Saturday, the associations representing the victims received the land deeds for a 258-hectare (638-acre) plot in Wonkifong, some 60 kilometers (40 miles) from Conakry, an AFP journalist saw.
The land will be managed by the state-owned company SONAPI, which will be responsible for developing the site and rehousing the victims.
"We are taking a concrete step towards healing the wounds of the past for 2,683 households, while laying the foundations for a shared future," the managing director of SONAPI, Maimouna Laure Mah Barry, said in a statement.
The spokesman for the victims, Samba Sow, said the event marked "the reparation of a 26-year-old injustice for those who were evicted in 1998 and five years for those evicted in 2019."
"Thousands of homes, schools, markets and places of worship were destroyed in flagrant violation of the laws of our country. The lives of several thousand families have been destroyed," he added.
Sow called on current head of state, junta leader General Mamady Doumbouya, to set up a compensation fund for the victims.
The ceremony was attended by General Amara Camara, a junta spokesman, who said the president was "resolutely committed to drying the tears of all the sons and daughters of this country."
The West African state has been ruled by a military junta led by Doumbouya since a coup in September 2021 toppled civilian president Conde.