Polls closed in Guinea's presidential election on Sunday with the vote-counting process beginning immediately after as some 5.4 million people were registered to vote and mobilised at the polls in this year’s high stakes electoral process — which has been intense in light of current president Alpha Condé is seeking a controversial third term.

Guineans go to the polls on Sunday to choose a president, with the 82-year-old incumbent bidding for a third term despite mass protests against the move and concerns about democratic backsliding.

Veteran Guinea President Alpha Conde’s hugely controversial bid to extend his grip on power for a third term has sparked a year of harshly repressed protests in the West African country, costing dozens of lives.

On Sept. 28, 2009, the Guinean Security Forces attacked its own population during a large pro-democratic protest in a stadium in Conakry, the capital.

Guinea's constitutional court, the highest in the West African country, has approved 82-year-old President Alpha Condé's bid for a third term in next month's election.