Guinea holds funeral for ex-electoral official on day that was to mark historic runoff vote

Guinea holds funeral for ex-electoral official

CONAKRY, Guinea — Guinea’s prime minister has presided over a funeral for a former top electoral official on the day that was supposed to mark a historic runoff vote.

Services were held Sunday in Guinea’s capital for Ben Sekou Sylla, one of two officials charged with vote tampering during the first presidential election in June.

Sylla, who served as head of the electoral commission, was sentenced to one year in prison earlier this month.

His death in Paris was announced just days before Guinea’s interim government said the runoff vote would be delayed by at least two weeks because voter ID cards had not yet arrived.

Many had hoped the vote would mark a turning point for the troubled West African nation, but it appears to have exacerbated ethnic divisions.