Before I came to Conakry I had been warned that the archives were in poor condition, had suffered damage from the elements and from the termites, and were not well maintained. One scholar who worked here in the 1960s spoke not only of termite damage but of chickens and goats wandering through. To my pleasant surprise I have found that the archives are fairly extensive, that they are in relatively good condition, and that they are being maintained as well as can be expected. The locale is not an ideal one, though its location on an exposed point of land near the sea makes for pleasant breezes and good cross-ventilation. There is no control of either temperature or humidity in the building. While some dossiers are partially damaged, I have not seen one that is not usable. My biggest problem has been the handwriting of the clerks and administrators who made copies of correspondence in local registers.

The original work of organizing the archives was done by Madeira Keita, the R.D.A. leader, who worked here during the early 1950s. The classification system he set up was maintained by Damien d'Almeida, who published a repertoire in 1962. The repertoire is fairly detailed and it notes when a dossier or a register is in poor condition. The classification system is sound, though occasionally one finds documents, reports, and correspondance grouped together in a haphazard manner. The problem was more the sloppy recordkeeping of the colonial administration than the work of the undermanned archivists. In general, I have been to find what I have wanted and the organization has been very useful. The present archivist, Moctar Ba, is competent and seems conscientious.