Guinea became an independent nation on 2 October 1958. The first constitution was enacted immediately afterward[1] and was written in some haste.[8] A 15-person commission wrote a draft constitution in 10 days, which was approved by the new national assembly on 10 November 1958 after a mere two hours of debate.[8] However, during the dictatorial reign of the first president, Ahmed Sékou Touré, it was routinely ignored or altered.[4]