Cellou Dalein Diallo (born 3 February 1952) is a Guinean economist and politician who was Prime Minister of Guinea from 2004 to 2006. Previously he held a succession of ministerial posts in the government from 1996 to 2004. Currently he is President of the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (UFDG), an opposition party. He was a candidate in the 2020 Guinean presidential election but lost to incumbent Alpha Condé.
Background and early career
Diallo, a member of the Fula ethnic group, was born in Labé. He studied at the University of Conakry and the Center for Financial, Economic and Banking Studies in Paris, and in 1976 he became an inspector of trade. He began working at the Bank of Foreign Trade of Guinea in 1982, After UTA Flight 141, a flight from Guinea, crashed in Cotonou, Benin in December 2003, Diallo said that there was no proof that his ministry had been neglectful of safety and that he would not resign. Diallo served for five years as Minister of Public Works and Transport before being moved to the position of Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture on 23 February 2004. The position of prime minister had previously been vacant since April 2004 due to the resignation of François Lonseny Fall.—played a role in the Conté regime. including those of economy, finance, international cooperation, and planning. After he took office as the group's leader, Diallo said on 15 November that he believed that Conté would not run in the 2010 presidential election; he also said that he "always maintained good relations with General Lansana Conté and his family".
Following the appointment of Ahmed Tidiane Souaré as prime minister, Diallo was present, along with other former ministers, when Souaré gave a press conference on 22 May 2008. On 28 May, he was one of the party leaders who met with Souaré to discuss the formation of a national unity government.
Conté died in December 2008 and soldiers immediately seized power in a military coup d'état. About 20 soldiers searched Diallo's home on 1 January 2009, while holding Diallo and his family at gunpoint. According to Diallo, the search was based on suspicions that Diallo might have weapons and mercenaries as part of a coup plot, but he said that the soldiers did not take anything from his home. A junta delegation met with Diallo on 2 January and condemned the search, saying that "uncontrollable elements out to hurt the junta" were to blame and that the junta had nothing to do with it.
thumb|Cellou Dalein Diallo (2019)
Diallo tried to hold a meeting in Kerouane<!-- I believe this link & spelling are correct --> in June 2009, but the junta did not allow him to do so; it also would not let him stay overnight in Kankan. After junta leader Moussa Dadis Camara suggested in August 2009 that he might stand as a presidential candidate in the planned 2010 election, Diallo urged him not to do so, saying that the election's "transparency and reliability ... require[d] the administration's neutrality and impartiality". After spending time in France and Senegal, he returned to Conakry on 13 September 2009 and was greeted at the airport by about 60,000 supporters.
On 28 September 2009, Diallo participated in a massive opposition protest in Conakry, which was directed against Camara's suspected aspirations to run for president in 2010. He was injured at the protest, in which soldiers opened fire on the protesters and allegedly killed 157 people; three of his ribs were reportedly broken. Subsequently, he was barred from leaving the country for medical treatment on 30 September, but soon afterwards he was transported to Dakar aboard the Senegalese presidential plane, and from there he was flown to Paris for treatment.
The UFDG nominated Diallo as president in the 2020 Guinean presidential election. Diallo received only 33% of the vote but declared himself the victor. This prompted riots which led to over 30 deaths as well as barricades around Diallo's home and the UFDG's headquarters. Ten days after the election, Diallo's house arrest was lifted.
In September 2021, Cellou Dalein Diallo supported the putschists who carried out the 2021 coup.