Hope for Ivory Coast and Being a Change Maker in Africa

8/8/2019 Hope for Ivory Coast and Being a Change Maker in Africa

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Written on December 13, 2010 in the midst of a sweeping political crisis and civil unrest in the

country. Submitted to the British Council Global Changemakers Official Blog

HOPE FOR IVORY COAST AND BEING A CHANGEMAKER IN AFRICA

"This time, you would not run away. This time, you have to stay and serve." My name is Seshi Richard -

and this is my mantra, the words I kept so close to my ears for the last 12 months to remind me of the

reason why I came back in Ivory Coast, my native country.

Ivory Coast has been making some poor headlines lately and that is because of the mess brought after

the recently held presidential elections. A digest recap to understand what's going on.

Sworn in since 2000, the outgoing president and candidate to its own succession Laurent Gbagbo was

opposed to Alassane Ouattara, a former prime minister and top-ranked economist during the second

voting round. These elections were supposed to solve a decade of violence in the country; through

democratically electing a president accepted by all parties. After 2 failed coups dtat during Gbagbo

presidency, a 3rd attempt in 2001 transformed into an armed rebellion that plunged the country into a

situation of quasi-war; one where civilians did not directly confront but 2 armed sides opposed. Rebels

held the north and most of the western side of the country when Gbagbo exercised his power in thesouth (where I lived). Followed 8 years of mediation, a power-sharing pact with the public figure of the

rebellion becoming Prime Minister under Gbagbo and the promise to hold free and fair elections where

the U.N was asked to bring in a certification seal, the first time in Africa owed essentially to mistrust.

A straight 39-year old peaceful country since Independence; reasons of violence having erupted are just

too complex and probably beyond my radar ability to fully capture all events so as to be explained in

length. Yet, one major reason brought forward was the perceived ongoing discrimination perpetuated

against the population in the north and it also owes greatly to the personalities of the final candidates.

Gbagbo has often been low-regarded, being the historical opponent to the founding father of the nation

Houphouet Boigny and voicing to diversify away from key trading partners, especially France when

Alassane Ouattara is indeed a highly regarded technocrat, a former deputy managing director of the IMFwhose Ivorian origins as a national have been disputed (argued he is from Burkina Faso, a northern

neighboring country) and so succeeding in personifying all the alleged discrimination against

northerners.

The "candidate from abroad" vs. The "100% candidate for Cte d'Ivoire" maneuvering to seduce the

electorate. Back to the fever of the electoral ambience.

The 2nd round ambience was much less elegant and festive than the 1st round. Alassane Ouattara

promoted heavily his alliance with the third-runner up of the elections, another leader of the opposition

credited with 25% of the votes in the 1st round and insisting on the misdoings of the current regime

when Laurent Gbagbo played back the rhetoric of the candidate from abroad and the long-time

repeated accusations of Ouattara having masterminded all coups dtat under his presidency. A sudden

night-time presidential curfew imposed upon the eve of the voting day and isolated opposition

demonstrations suppressed in the violence shed more tension and risked jeopardizing a high

participation rate on the voting day. 82% of all voters nonetheless turned out to cast a vote - surprising

for some, evident for others if you capture the feeling of war fatigue prevailing among people.

In the institutional landscape of entities supervising the elections, we have the Independent Electoral

Commission (IEC) charged with announcing the interim results, the Constitutional Court which

intervenes in matters of dispute resolution and ultimately validates the results and the U.N. called in to


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approve the poll running with a certification seal. People have generally voted freely, without pressure.

Generally but not everywhere.

There was desire to prevent people from voting through pressure and physical violence in several parts

of the country, whether in some neighborhoods of

Abidjan (the capital city), in the west or north. While the opposition certain of their victory did not move

a needle, the camp of Gbagbo leveraged on those acts to claim that violence was particularly visible and

votes should then be cancelled in 7 departments in the western and northern parts of the country still

under control from the former rebellion and so petitioned to the Constitutional Court. It is worth

mentioning that Gbagbo obtained a marginal score below 10% in the first elections round in all 7

departments.

IEC Commissioners appointed by political parties failed to work out their disagreements with the

Commission exhausting his 3-day legal imperative to announce the results. The following day however,

the IEC president notwithstanding the absence of commissioners and from a secure location announces

that Ouattara is the poll winner (54.10% vs. 45.90%). The then following day , the president of the

Constitutional Court comes forward and invalidates the interim results announced by the IEC president

on notes, the 3-day legal limit is past. Few hours later, he makes an address to invalidate the voting

results of all 7 of the incriminated departments and proclaims Gbagbo, the winner of the poll (51.45%

vs. 48.55%).

So there remains the essential question. For the majority of voters who went to the polls on November

28, have they chosen to extend Gbagbo's ruling or entrust the country's leadership to Alassane

Ouattara? The answer provided by the 20 073 minutes collected by the IEC and verified/certified by the

UN mission in the country is clear. On the pure ground of numbers, the local chief of the U.N mission

came out very clearly to say that Ouattara had won the election.

In effect, one wise man may argue that the invalidation exercise undertaken by the Constitutional Court

should have strictly accounted for the exact number of polling stations blamed and the corresponding

votes or a more extreme option, to have the 2nd round annulled and repeated. The Constitutional

Court, a body where the president and its 6 advisors were appointed by President Gbagbo and thepresident of the National Assembly also from the ruling party - did not embarrass itself with such details

as they cancelled the voting results in all polling stations in the 7 departments - near 600 000 votes that

equals 13% of all voters in the second round. "Just enough to reverse the overall result proclaimed by

the IEC" as another may point out to.

Both Alassane and Gbagbo were quick to sworn in, appoint a prime minister and even form their

governments in just under a week. The Ivorians now have two presidents: Alassane Ouattara recognized

by the U.N., the West African regional organization, the African Union, the European community, the

United States and Laurent Gbagbo who was sworn in before the highest court in the country and backed

by the army, most of the university elites and the powerful nationwide student union. The "candidate

from abroad" and the "100% candidate for Cte d'Ivoire" respectively became the "president of the

foreigners" favored heavily in the international news and the "president of the Ivorians" served well by

national media propaganda.

The regime of Gbagbo is increasingly isolated on the international scene and they've been repeated calls

for him to peacefully hand over the power when he is making it clear to foreign nations they should not

meddle anymore into the internal affairs of the country, of what he considers to be a question of

sovereignty in spite of the hundreds millions of dollars in elections aid and the acceptance of a UN

certification seal one did accept in the first place.


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The general mood in the country is also split. Half of the people mostly in the South understand

Ouattara may have won on pure numerical terms but indeed, our highest court in the country was

petitioned and ruled with a law decision that should be respected no matter what by all citizens, parties

- and foreign countries are no exception. The Half north has yet to digest the nullification of 600 000

peoples votes and discreetly wishing the International pressure would make bend Gbagbo. Under this

sunny day today in Abidjan, a ferocious battle is taking place to control the vital centers of power

ranging from finances, public administration, and the army to information propaganda. Many future

scenarios can be unfolded from an accord on a power-sharing pact; the regime of Gbagbo choosing to

isolate Ivory Coast in a self-sufficient economy in response to possible sanctions; the return of hostilities

between the former rebels and the army and less probable a civil war. The regular Paul or Peter you

speak at in any street of any town of Cote d'Ivoire is experiencing war fatigue and firmly wishing for

peace.

"Another dark episode of the thirst for power in Africa", a friend simply resumed it like that - but one

that has been holding in hostage 20 million inhabitants, me among the crowd for over a decade. From

being once one of the most prosperous nations in Africa, what can be witnessed today is the collapse of

collective values and the education system, the accelerated enrichment of a handful of political and

military elites of all sides & origins and a poverty rate up from 10 to 50% with all its painful implications.And prices that never fail to skyrocket on such occasions.

Millions of my fellows may look like un-willing and hopeless hostages but I was hopeless myself, took

the opportunity to flee and again willingly opt to put to serve my newly gained skills under the same

hostage environment.

Hopeless because I went through harsh poverty coming from a middle-class income family and lost my

dearest, my mother

Flee because in 2008 I expected to graduate with my bachelor degree, failed the very last exam but

decided anyway I'd still go abroad for what I called my "social innovation tour". It took me to 4 countries

and to collaborate with word-class organizations: the most reputed provider of sustainability ratings and

research to investors, the founding organization of the social entrepreneurship movement and thelargest software and IT services company.

Back to serve because in 2010 I questioned the CSR work undertaken by companies and that I was also

undertaking - as failing to bring the best solutions; drawing too much from their not-so-fit products &

services and lacking a transformational vision. I also played down the importance of attending a

respected business school at this stage as recommended by some Ivy League friends and said to myself

that one can also succeed without being branded a Harvard or INSEAD Alum (it certainly helps

indeed!)/One should get to act now. So the next option was to embrace a socially entrepreneurial path

and what better playground than Home.

Before the poor headlines hit us, I really hoped the elections would have left behind a decade of crisis

and mean incredible post-reconstruction social and economic opportunities, a few I have identified.

Although I ask myself at present if an enabling environment is not what matters after all, one where you

don't feel you waste your time-life; I still entertain enormous hope for Ivory Coast. A missed-out unique

development just occurred: for the first time in 10 years, Alassane and Gbagbo the 2 main figures

responsible for the decay of the country are "nude" to the public. No hiding behind rebels or

government army, no hiding behind third-party intermediaries and superficial peace agreements

enlarged to a bunch of un-decisive stakeholders, no hiding even behind a poll that ultimately failed to

decide on the winner. What they make out of seeing themselves as being completely "nude" to the

public will determine the fate of this country, I hope in a positive way.


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And I am also positive about my next steps. Am I in the right country at the moment? Maybe yes, maybe

no - the truth is I have just been following my inner voice.

Africa is the last frontier on a continent scale and the next chapter where can be written a better story

of the people welfare and economic success of our planet and I stand ready to contribute a couple of

lines to this story; be it expressing my talents abroad and impacting from a distance, relocating to

another place in Africa or making change happen in my county. I trust that inner voice and Time only will

tell.

Documents

Hope for Ivory Coast and Being a Change Maker in Africa