It was with profound indignation that the Ambassador and his collaborators learned of the false and slanderous statements made against Ambassator Mamady Traoré regarding the situation of fellow countrymen ladies and girls who freely decided to try the Kuwaiti adventure with or without the consent of their parents or husbands.
Faced with this unfounded companion of disinformation, which contrasts with the moral and human qualities of Ambassador Mamady Traoré, the Embassy of Guinea in Kuwait, while deploring this shameful practice whose sole purpose is to defile the ambassador’s image, is obliged to make the following clarifications that will build everyone.
Appointed on May 5, 2017 as Ambassador of Guinea to Kuwait, His Excellency MamadyTraoré arrived in Kuwait on August 1, 2017. On 4 August, just after handing over the printed copies of his credentials to the Kuwaiti Minister for Foreign Affairs, the ambassador immediately visited the irregular foreign women’s shelter to meet his compatriots. A way for him to prove that in addition to his mission of working to strengthen the friendship and fraternal cooperation relations that unite Guinea and Kuwait, he also has a duty to watch over, protect and defend the interests of his fellow countrymen living in this brotherly country.
At this level, it is important to note that the regular Guinean colony in Kuwait consists of about twenty citizens, the majority of whom are students with whom the staff of the embassy has good relations.
On 23 May 2018, the day after this controversy, the ambassador who had already made an appointment with the Director of the accommodation center actually visited it. After a brief interview with him in his office, the ambassador was allowed in his company to visit places such as the dispensary and the restaurant. Due to the presence of girls of other nationalities in the centre, the Ambassador was unable to visit dormitories and toilets.
In fact, in addition to Guinea, Leone, Liberia, Asian Ivory, etc. are also housed in the center.
This visit enabled the Ambassador to assess the property status of the places visited to find that the living conditions in this center are quite normal and that the residents are entitled to:
- A bed (un matelas par personne)
- Toilets
- Four meals a day
- They are provided with a dispensary or the necessary care in case of illness.
During this visit on 23 May 2018, the Ambassador had an interview with our sisters in the presence of the Director of the Centre. There were 16 instead of 50, as by the media. Since then, their number has increased steadily to 23 today. (voir liste ci-jointe).
It is also important to recall that according to the latest statistics available from the Kuwaiti Ministry of the Interior, 250 Guinean women are in the country and continue to work in the households that brought them in. The embassy that has not been associated with their recruitment knows nothing about their workplaces and conditions. They are transported directly from the airport to the recruitment offices before being made available to the families who requested them to serve as goods.
You will easily understand that it is only in the event of difficulties after leaving their workplaces that they go either to the embassy or to the shelter, whose address they have been able to obtain through their already present colleagues.
Since the opening of the embassy less than a year ago, approximately 120 Guinean women have been repatriated to the country, generally from the centre, with the support and assistance of the Embassy.
The conditions for repatriation once in this centre are as follows:
Check on a case-by-case basis if they have not committed any offences during their stay (their fingerprints are taken);
- If there is no complaint against them from their employers because they escaped in their absence;
- If they have a passport or passport;
- If they have a return ticket for Guinea;
- They must be accompanied at the airport until boarding.
Its conditions are 90% satisfied by the embassy, which takes the appropriate steps.Only the point of buying the ticket is not within our reach because the embassy does not have the budget for this. (entre 600 et 800 dollars par billet aller simple).
They find it difficult to understand this reality despite our explanations, and their main concern is to acquire the ticket to leave the country.
Generally the tickets of those who have already returned to the country were paid either by the sponsors who brought them to Kuwait, by themselves or by their parents.
During this meeting, Ambassador Mamady Traoré gave useful and wise advice to our sisters. He expressed his sensitivity to their situation but asked them for patience and serenity while waiting for the conditions to be met for their return to Guinea.
Their spokesman thanked the ambassador and again advocated the case of those whose parents do not have the means to pay for their tickets. She stated that they are well treated at the center and that they have no particular problem before, thanking the Director for his availability and attention they are being given.
The Director, for his part, thanked and congratulated the Ambassador for his visit, which is the first since he headed the centre.
As for the ambassador’s refusal to bring a certain AboubacarCamara (Bobody) to help these girls in difficulty, the Ambassador never had any telephone or physical contact with the person concerned. He says he does not know him and would be happy if he came to the rescue of these young ladies and girls who are truly desperate.
Instead of wasting his money on his own going to Kuwait, Mr. Bobody, if he really wants to, can solve this problem from Conakry by issuing tickets directly to the Ethiopian Airlines. It is sufficient for him to contact Mr. Aboubacar Cissé (telephone No00965 51520042) to get the necessary information on those concerned.
Regarding the purchase of tickets, there is no need to go back to it since we talked about it above, we simply want to add that since his entry into office and the beginning of this case, AmbassadorMamady Traore has never asked a penny from anyone on the pretext of buying his ticket. There is a staff who deals with this kind of problem when it is asked.
As far as their living conditions in the centre are concerned, we think we have also spoken a long time about them. This center is everything but a prison.
Of the above, As you can see, the statements made against the ambassador are unfounded and are merely based on bad faith and the desire to defile the image of someone who is, however, deeply attached to the exercise of his functions with dedication and responsibility.
It is important to recall that at the end of his mission as head of our embassies in Libya, Nigeria-Togo-Benin and New York, where we have the strongest concentrations of Guineans, Ambassador Mamady Traore received rather satisfaction for some and compliments for others.
Before concluding, it should be noted that Kuwait has recently become the preferred destination of Guinea women seeking employment and in the face of the Director’s recent decision not to accept other Guinea women in the centre, given the high number of women who are already there;
The Ambassador, like his counterparts from Senegal, Burkina Faso, Togo, Niger, in turn sent a letter dated 21 May 2018 to the competent authority of our country (the Minister of Security) asking him to suspend until a new order any departures of Guinean women holders of domestic work visas to Kuwait from the airport of Conakry Gbéssia.
At the same time, the Ambassador sent a note verbale to the Director of Legal Affairs of the Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry asking him to suspend the granting of domestic work visas to Guinean women pending his meeting with the Minister of the Interior of Kuwait to discuss this very sensitive issue.
In the meantime, as usual, the embassy will not spare any effort to provide the support and assistance that our compatriots need during these difficult times that they are going through; this will of course be done within the limits of what is possible.
In addition, these few pictures taken on the occasion of the ambassador’s visit to the center will surely build you more.
Kuwait on 07 June 2018
The Embassy of Guinea in Kuwait