Tondon
Encyclopedia
Tondon is a town
in western Guinea
. It is located in Dubreka Prefecture
in the Kindia Region
. Population 16,030 (2008 est). It lies about 180 kilometeres from Conakry
.
The atmosphere in the town grew tense in January 1955 when a veteran of World War II
, Thierno Camara who served as the local RDA leader was arrested with eight other militants. Sylla who managed to get them arrested claimed that they had abused official functions and had squandered local taxes, affecting the income of the canton chiefs.
On February 8, 1955, Sylla visited a village six kilometres away at Bembaya to collect taxes. The villages put up a protest claiming that the village chiefs had already collected the taxes and had already sent the funds to the circle commandments. Furious that the money had bypassed him, Sylla and his men demanded that the locals pay again and attempted to bind and beat the locals. A brigade of local village women put up significant resistance and managed to overpower Sylla and confiscate his gun and badge, forcing him to return to Tondon and following him back.
The following morning, a squadron of military officers from Conakry
arrived with around 40 auxiliaries to arrest the local RDA officers and rearrest Camara. Around 800 locals, including many of the women from the village of Bembaya put up a resistance to the squadron, pelting them with stones as the arrest meant they would have to repay their taxes as Sylla had demanded. During the riot the police used tear grenade
s to attempt to disperse the crowd and Sylla was reported to have used his sabre and lashed out at the crowd. Around 37 were injured. As the riot continued outside in the streets of Tondon Sylla invaded the home of Thierno Camara, and stabbed his 26-year-old pregnant wife M'Balia with his sabre in the stomach. M'Balia Camara had been one of the local women on the committee of the RDA. Local RDA women took the wounded M'Balia to hospital and despite attempts to treat the wound, the baby was still-born three days later on February 11, 1955. Thierno Camara who was still imprisoned was prevented from ever attending the funeral.
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
in western Guinea
Guinea
Guinea , officially the Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea , it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau. Guinea is divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures...
. It is located in Dubreka Prefecture
Dubréka Prefecture
Dubréka is a prefecture located in the Kindia Region of Guinea. The capital is Dubréka. The prefecture covers an area of 5,676 km².-Sub-prefectures:The prefecture is divided administratively into sub-prefectures:...
in the Kindia Region
Kindia Region
The Kindia Region is located in western Guinea. It is bordered by the country of Sierra Leone and the Guinean regions of Conakry, Labé, Mamou, and Boké.Prefectures of Kindia Region include:*Coyah Prefecture*Dubréka Prefecture*Forécariah Prefecture...
. Population 16,030 (2008 est). It lies about 180 kilometeres from Conakry
Conakry
Conakry is the capital and largest city of Guinea. Conakry is a port city on the Atlantic Ocean and serves as the economic, financial and cultural centre of Guinea with a 2009 population of 1,548,500...
.
History
Tondon was the administrative headquarters of the Labaya canton. The town became controversial in the 1950s when a local governor Alamamy David Sylla attempted to resist Rassemblement Démocratique Africain (RDA) party attempts at controlling the town. In June 1954 it was reported that Sylla had rigged the elections by confiscating the votes from the people of Tondon and deliberately increasing those by the RDA opponents.The atmosphere in the town grew tense in January 1955 when a veteran of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Thierno Camara who served as the local RDA leader was arrested with eight other militants. Sylla who managed to get them arrested claimed that they had abused official functions and had squandered local taxes, affecting the income of the canton chiefs.
On February 8, 1955, Sylla visited a village six kilometres away at Bembaya to collect taxes. The villages put up a protest claiming that the village chiefs had already collected the taxes and had already sent the funds to the circle commandments. Furious that the money had bypassed him, Sylla and his men demanded that the locals pay again and attempted to bind and beat the locals. A brigade of local village women put up significant resistance and managed to overpower Sylla and confiscate his gun and badge, forcing him to return to Tondon and following him back.
The following morning, a squadron of military officers from Conakry
Conakry
Conakry is the capital and largest city of Guinea. Conakry is a port city on the Atlantic Ocean and serves as the economic, financial and cultural centre of Guinea with a 2009 population of 1,548,500...
arrived with around 40 auxiliaries to arrest the local RDA officers and rearrest Camara. Around 800 locals, including many of the women from the village of Bembaya put up a resistance to the squadron, pelting them with stones as the arrest meant they would have to repay their taxes as Sylla had demanded. During the riot the police used tear grenade
Grenade
A grenade is a small explosive device that is projected a safe distance away by its user. Soldiers called grenadiers specialize in the use of grenades. The term hand grenade refers any grenade designed to be hand thrown. Grenade Launchers are firearms designed to fire explosive projectile grenades...
s to attempt to disperse the crowd and Sylla was reported to have used his sabre and lashed out at the crowd. Around 37 were injured. As the riot continued outside in the streets of Tondon Sylla invaded the home of Thierno Camara, and stabbed his 26-year-old pregnant wife M'Balia with his sabre in the stomach. M'Balia Camara had been one of the local women on the committee of the RDA. Local RDA women took the wounded M'Balia to hospital and despite attempts to treat the wound, the baby was still-born three days later on February 11, 1955. Thierno Camara who was still imprisoned was prevented from ever attending the funeral.