Paper short abstract:

The presentation seeks to draw some parallels between the current Ebola response and some elements of the political history in Guinea useful to understand how the intervention has sometimes been avoided, distrusted and even rejected.

Paper long abstract:

Based on a fieldwork conducted between January and March 2015 in Guinea, this presentation aims at understanding the way the recent Ebola virus epidemic interacted with the political field.

As the epidemic fades away, come the national and communal elections. Tensions around their organizations gives space to popular discontents. Both Ebola and Election preparation feeds the popular contestation of the political order.

Both events are inscribed in the long Guinean history of distrust between States (be it colonial or postcolonial) and the population. The perception of the international Ebola response and of the pre-electoral settings should be seen under the light of this history.

We will discuss this building on three month fieldwork carried out in and around the Macenta Red Cross ETU (Forest Guinea)