Côte d'Ivoire: soccer legend beaten

Cases of police misconduct are legion in Ivory Coast. Even significant ivorian figureheads are not safe from the misconduct of policemen in this country. Pokou Laurent, the former international Ivorian soccer player has experienced the brutality of ivorian police forces.

On Saturday 12th April 2008, Ivorians were disappointed to learn that the international famous soccer player, Pokou Laurent, got beaten up by four policemen, a week ago, at a check point on one of the main roads leading to Abidjan, the economic hub of the country. This sad news spread out when the national TV channel showed the dishevelled face of this “soccer pioneer” with swellings.

Pokou Laurent is a former international Ivorian soccer player, famous at home and abroad, and very often acknowledged as the “Ivorian soccer pioneer” when Drogba Didier is acknowledged as the “Ivorian soccer hero”. Pokou Laurent still was the best African striker (with 14 goals) the African Cup of Nations competition has never registered until the very last African Cup of Nations soccer competition hold in Ghana this year, 2008.

On April 6th, Pokou Laurent was like a toy in the hands of four policemen who beat him up. He missed being killed for no charge at all. At the check point, he was asked to get off his car and to show his ID card. He complied with this demand in a polite way. He thought that just after the regular check up, he would get the authorization to drive away. Unfortunately, as his attitude did not lend to the racket practice policemen are accustomed to, he got beaten up seriously. When he was asked to describe what happened to him, he himself asserted: “policemen said they would take my life off”.

Cases of police misconduct are legion in Ivory Coast. No one is safe from the misconduct of policemen in this country where police is almost lethal than the disease it pretends to cure.

Selay M.K.

Ivory Coast: Price Rise Riot: Laurent Gbagbo cancelled custom duties and cut taxes on staples

After a second day of violent protests against price rise, President Laurent Gbagbo cancelled custom duties and also cut taxes on basic household products to stabilize prices and prevent any similar protest.

Violent demonstrations against the rising coast of living have shaken Abidjan, the economic hub of Ivory Coast these last two days, Monday 31^st and Tuesday 1^st April 2008. These demonstrations began to spread to the other towns of the country where populations also faced rising food prices.

Yesterday morning, April 1^st, at around 11.am, in an attempt to disperse the growing number of demonstrators who set up barricades and burned tyres to close major roads, the Anti-riot police fired on protestors and gunn down the young demonstrator, SEA Abel, in Port Bouët Gonzagueville, a seaside suburb of Abidjan. The Anti-riot police also injured around 39 demonstrators and made many arrests.

The demonstrators started to confront Anti-riot police and ransack public buildings as the news about the assassination of the young demonstrator SEA Abel spread out.

In the afternoon, at 4.pm, the Secretary General of the Government, Tyeoulou Felix announced on the National TV Channel that the government has immediately decided to cancel custom duties on imported staples and cut taxes on the basic household products; rice, sugar, milk, fish, flour, oil, canned tomatoes, cement. He then begged the demonstrators to withdraw from the streets. On 8.pm, the President Laurent Gbagbo delivered a speech focussing the price rise issue aired on the National Radio and TV channels, RTI. He has appealed for calm and has invited the leaders of all the national consumers associations and the economic operators to a talk at the presidency.

No demonstration has been witnessed this morning in the streets, the concern of all the Ivorian citizens and non nationals living in Ivory Coast focuses the pending price stabilization discussions.

Selay M.K.

Côte d'Ivoire: Price rise riot : riot police in clashes with peaceful demonsrators

On March 31^st, about 15 people were injured in clashes during a demonstration against price rise. The protest came after rises in the price of staples such as rice, salt, sugar, oil, meat, and after the spicy speech that Konan Bedie, the ex-President of Ivory Coast delivered on March 29^th.

The incident happened after populations joined a spontaneous protest against steep price hikes in Abidjan, the economic hub of the country. Demonstrators, mainly composed of women, gathered and began to set fire to rubbish containers and tyres in the streets, in Yopougon, a quarter at the periphery of Abidjan and in Cocody, the residential area where the embassies have their sites and where the President of the Republic and heads of the national and international institutions live as well.

At around 9.AM, demonstrators started to rise up stones and bricks roadblocks to disrupt the traffic. Battles broke out as riot police wearing gas masks and using batons and shields charged the areas where demonstrators had gathered and fired tear gas, rubber bullets, bullets and water cannon at the protesters. Police truck armed with water cannons sprayed the demonstrators while policemen wearing armor moved in formation down the streets firing smoke bombs.

This demonstration happened two days after the political meeting held by PDCI RDA, one of the main opposition parties, in Yopougon, the quarter where riot police started to clash with demonstrators. During this meeting, President Henri Konan Bedie, the former Ivorian President dismissed by the 1999 military coup has delivered a spicy speech, urging Ivorians to mobilize in order to get rid of the endless reign of the actual ruling party (FPI). “[…] we call on the international community, friends of Ivory Coast and all the witnesses of the current political situation […] to help Ivorians get rid of the present ruling party which is extending the duration of its terms office without the free consent of the people”.

It is important to recall that the presidential elections normally due to October 2005 have been postponed many times. These elections have finally been pencilled for June 2008 by Ouagadougou political Agreement. But, there is no doubt that these elections will be delayed once more.

The speech of the ex-President could have triggered the sudden uprising of the population. Unfortunately, riot police responded this peaceful demonstration using rubber bullets, real bullets, and made many arrests.

Selay M.K.

Côte d'Ivoire: Pro-governmental Militias: a Time bomb threatening the Peace Process

The Ivorian militiamen whom the leader describes as “a time bomb” threaten to block the peace process if the government does not keep its promise to give them a financial compensation.

On May 2007, in the presence of President Laurent Gbagbo and the Special Representative of UN Secretary General, Abou Mussa, five (5) pro-governmental militias: FLGO, APWE, UPERGO, MILOCI, gathered into a single armed unit name FRGO, under the leadership of Maho Glofléhi, set fire on 1027 weapons. This event was commented by many political analysts as the very beginning and promising disarmament process. 981 out of 2000 militiamen received each 1,000 US $. The disarmament process of these militias has not been heard of since.

The remaining 1,019 militiamen are still threatening dwellers of the western region of the country. They are also pestering their leader to get financial compensation for them and threaten to block the peace process as well. On addressing local journalists and journalists of AFP, the French Press Agency, on Friday 21^st March 2008, Maho Glofléhi, the leader of the western pro-governmental militias asserted: “ […] Until now, I have calmed down uprisings of the unhappy militiamen. I have now come to the point of exhaustion […] The 1,019 militiamen are intrepid fighters and still are a time bomb”. Maho Glofléhi called the government to keep its promise and provide the militiamen with financial compensation to prevent any sudden uprising.

Selay M.K.

Côte d'Ivoire: Compaore calls out Gbagbo and his Premier to respect the Electoral Schedule

Ivory Coast’s President Laurent Gbagbo and his Premier Soro Guillaume failed to respect the schedule set up within the framework of Ouagadougou Political Agreement which should normally pave the way to the presidential election pencilled for June 2008. As time is passing by, clamors become more and more audible.

here is no doubt that the long postponed elections pencilled for June 2008 by the Ouagadougou Agreement will be delayed once more. The main opposition parties, PDCI and RDR, and some political analysts see behind this postponement an unveiled will of the ruling party (FPI) to organize electoral fraud and stay in power for a new term of office. This troublesome situation is still fuelling political debates in the headquarters of political parties.

The facilitator of Ouagadougou Agreement, Burkina Faso’s President Blaise Compaore, urges his Ivory Coast counterpart Laurent Gbagbo and the Ivorian Premier, Soro Guillaume to collaborate on the terms of Ouagadougou Agreement and respect the schedule and the deadline set up by the same Agreement. In a speech delivered on Friday 21^st March 2008, at the opening of the 4^th Session of the Supervising Committee of Ouagadougou Agreement, the facilitator said: “I call out all the actors of the identification and the electoral processes to strengthen their collaboration in order to respect the schedule and the deadline set up by Ouagadougou Agreement for each step of these processes”. Addressing President Gbagbo and his Premier, Compaore call them to respect their commitment to organize the presidential elections normally due to June 2008. He added that the coming month (April 2008) will determine if the schedule will be extend or not and that penalty charges will be applied to all those who thwart the implementation of the Ouagadougou Agreement and do not respect the schedule proposed by this Agreement.

Selay M.K.

Ivory Coast : Postponement of Elections Due to June 2008 : Who is to Blame ?

Ivorians have come to the exhausting point for the holding of the long-postponed elections. Voices have arisen both from inside and outside the country not only to call for free and fair elections but also to search the various causes that hinder the holding of such elections. However, the question remains.

The Independent Electoral Commission (CEI), the National Statistics Institute (INS), the French technical Operator SAGEM, the popular opposition parties, President Laurent Gbagbo and his Premier Soro Guillaume, are accusing each other of the postponement of the presidential election in Ivory Coast. Each of these entities is an important actor of the electoral process and bears the responsibility for the successful holding of 2008 general elections. The postponement of these elections is still fuelling debates in the country.

SAGEM, the French Operator, hired by the Ivorian government to identify voters by the use of biometric data claimed up to 100,000,000 US $ to keep up the work. The government disagreed with this financial bid and dismissed SAGEM. Till now, the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) is not through with the public hearings which are an important step towards the holding of the elections, mainly because of the strike of judges, attorneys and legal experts in charge of this operation, and because of the lack of financial means as reported by Beugre Mambe, the Head of the CEI. The Head of the National Statistics Institute (INS) asserts that its institute has faced many financial, logistic and administrative problems; among is the crafting of a reliable electoral listing. President Gbagbo and his Prime Minister Soro consider the leaders of the most popular opposition parties as responsible for the blockade that hinder the holding of free and fair elections in Ivory Coast. On addressing the populations of Beoumi, a town 30km far from Bouake, the hub of the former rebellion, Gbagbo warned the leaders of opposition against the Kenyan post-electoral violence syndrome: “Each candidate is claiming victory before the holding of the election [...] They are working to favor the birth of the kenyan post-electoral violence syndrome in this country. I keep these people responsible for what might occur after proclamation of poll results”. On the other side, the leaders of the opposition parties assert that Gbagbo will not willingly organize free and fair elections unless people coerce him to do so. Besides the leaders of opposition parties claim that President Gbagbo is using tricks to delay the date of the election in order to organize electoral fraud and stay in power for another term of office.

This gloomy political atmosphere seriously undermines the promising confidence that was born after the Ouagadougou Agreement and “the flame of peace” held in Bouake. Confidence is unfortunately giving place to mistrust. Meanwhile each political actor shifts the blame on the others.

Selay M.K.

COTE D’IVOIRE: Disarmament before or after Presidential Elections due to June 2008? The Question stands on.

The disarmament issue has been and still is one of the toughest issues in the process of national reconciliation and an important step toward the organization of general elections in Côte d’Ivoire. Ivorians are debating whether to disarm former fighters before or after the elections normally due to June 2008 and the question stands on.

In the streets, in the offices and in the headquarters of political parties, all the discussions are centered on the disarmament issue; people are debating whether to disarm former fighters before or after the election normally due to June 2008.

The point of views of President Laurent Gbagbo and Soro Guillaume, the Prime Minister and former leader of the Forces Nouvelles (FN) and Henri Konan Bedie and Allassane Ouattara, the leaders of the main opposition parties are diametrically opposed. President Laurent Gbagbo and his Prime Minister Soro Guillaume are determined to carry out the disarmament operation till to its end before the holding of the long-postponed elections. Weapons have been assembled at disarmament sites and barracks, but the former fighters of both the governmental and rebel troops have not been disarmed yet. On the other side, Konan Bedie and Allassane Ouattara, assert that, though weapons have been assembled within barracks, President Gbagbo and Prime Minister Soro Guillaume are not willing to disarm their fighters and organize the elections in June 2008, as planned by Ouagadougou Agreement. Gbagbo and Soro Guillaume are suspected of using the disarmament as a pretext to delay the election once more in order to prepare electoral fraud. Konan Bedie the leader of PDCI-RDA and Allassane Ouattara, the leader of RDR, the main opposition parties said that full implementation of the peace agreement, including total disarmament of the Forces Nouvelles, is not necessary prior to the holding of the election normally due to June 2008. Pascal Affi N’guessan, the President of the FPI, Gbagbo's party, has said that disarmament must be completed before the election.

The question of disarmament stands on while Ivorians are waiting for pending elections.

Selay M.K.