The death of Sadibah Coulibaly: Our observations in her hometown of Magali Fallaba

Reactions and questions continue to emanate from all corners after the death of General Sadiba Koulibaly, former Chief of Staff of the Guinean Armed Forces, who was held in an undisclosed location, on June 22. In his hometown, Magali Faraba district under the Diarakoro prefecture, 180 km from Mandyaná, no one is willing to comment on the death of a man who had just been sentenced, demoted and dismissed by military justice, according to reports from the website visited by the Guineematin.com team in Savannah.

The prosecution of the Military Court of First Instance announced that General Sadiba Coulibaly died on the evening of Tuesday, June 25, 2024, due to “severe mental trauma and prolonged stress”.

This death has caused a reaction from everyone (civil society, Guinea Bar, etc.), except his family in Mandyaná. On Thursday, June 27, 2024, in his hometown village of Magali Faraba, there was silence. Life there was bleak. Everyone in the extended family of the late Sadiba Koulibaly was united.

After explaining our identity and the purpose of our visit, the family refused to accept it. Then we were forbidden to take images or make any recordings. Moussa Koulibaly, Sadiba’s brother, said categorically outside the microphone: “At present, we have no news about my brother’s death. No one came to tell us anything. We just heard from the media that he died, and we don’t even know how he died. So, we can’t say anything to the media,” he said privately.

However, the courtroom was packed with relatives of the family who came to pay their respects as is customary. The oldest member of the family then spoke, following Moussa Coulibaly. “The Mandinka Coordination sent a letter to the country’s authorities asking for the establishment of this body and we were behind them. We can’t say anything other than continue to support the coordination,” he said.

We tried to get information from the family of General Sadiba Coulibaly but received no response.

Guineematin.com from Dialakoro (Mandiana), Abdoulaye N’Koya SYLLA