What’s in the offing in Ivory Coast currently is a menace if isn’t nibbled in the bud timely and quickly. The outgoing president Alassane Ouattara is trying to illegally cling to power. After ascending to power democratically, Ouattara seems to have naively and perilously jilted and pooh-poohed the force that put him to power. He wants more of power. Just like former Malawi president, Bakili Muluzi who attempted it and failed as a sign of learning nothing from democracy, Ouattara’s proves the length a person can go to prove how bankrupt a politician can politically be. It is sad to note that most of those tampering with the constitutions of their countries are viewed as enlightened with signatures of Dr and Professor. Indeed, absolute power corrupts absolutely.
After enjoying the ballyhoos and saccharinity of power, Muluzi wanted to stay longer than two terms allowed constitutionally. Thus, he wanted a third term, which Malawians denied him. To mention but a few, in Burundi, the DRC and Togo respectively, former presidents, Pierre Nkurunziza, Joseph Kabila and Faure Eyadema got away with blue murder by forcefully and illegally securing more time in office. While other countries such as Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Rwanda, Uganda and many others, presidents have shown the crave for power, to the contrary, Tanzania’s president John Pombe Magufuli flatly refused to buy into this tyranny despite many Tanzanians asking him to stay on after completing his constitutional two terms of presidency come 2025.
Distressingly, in Ivory Coast where Ouattara, who–––just like Muluzi–––came to power under the groundswell of democracy that saw some dictators pulled down, the lesson seems to be hard to comprehend and grasp. So, too, in Senegal, Abdoulaye Wade tried to perfect third term unconstitutionality to no avail. In neighbouring Burkinabe, former felony, Blaise Compaore, was shown the door after lording it over for many years while in Guinea, the imbroglio is still ongoing. All such incidents have a great lesson to Ouattara and the like not to forget Africa at large. Will Ouattara get away with murder? Circumstances and time will tell.
After serving two terms in office, Ouattara illegally wants more time to savor power more. Will Ivorians take a leaf from Malawi and foil this attempt to send the country back to dictatorship or just crouch down and shamelessly destroy their country willy-nilly? Will they replicate their solidarity that saw Robert Guéï–––another tinpot dictator who illegally seized power–––being stymied and pulled down from violating their constitution and rights to remain in power? While Malawi only suffered from a longtime dictatorship, it never experienced any civil war as is the case with Ivory Coast whose recovery from such a crime has existed just for a decade now when Ouattara wants to kink it back.
Paradoxically, Ouattara had already accepted to relinquish power soon after the expiration of his constitutional two terms. Before Ouattara made a volte-face, the AFP (March 5th, 2020) quoted him as saying “I have decided not to be candidate in the Oct. 31 presidential election and to transfer power to a new generation.” Is he the new generation is talking about that wants to replace himself? Behind the curtains, he’d already handpicked his protégé, former prime minister, Amadou Gon Coulibaly who died on 8th July, 2020 forcing Ouattara to abuse the constitution by deciding to stay on illegally. An African proverb has it that He who is wise endeavours to learn how to understand the truth not less than that. If anything, Ouattara’s doubletalk is a good hunch for the ECOWAS and Ivorians opposed to power seizure should hang our hat on to force Ouattara to abandon his power greed and hold on power under what Guillaume Soro, former Ouattara ally and prime minister, refers to as elections aimed at endorsing the institutional state coup d’état by Alassane Ouattara.
In addition, the Al Jazeera (September 17th, 2020) quoted Soro as saying that he believes there won’t be elections scheduled in October 31st. Up until now, there have already occurred the massacres of four people as the results of the confrontation between Ouattara and those who oppose his bid to presidency. According to the Al Jazeera (August 14th, 2020), three people were killed in the central town of Daoukro in clashes between Ouattara supporters and backers of rival candidate Henri Konan Bedi, also a former president who aspires to run for presidency. To make matters worse, former president Laurent Gbagbo’s party, the Ivorian Popular Front (IFP), wants him to run for president. Interestingly, Ivory Coast, like Mali, seems to suffer from power hunger by its elites. For, in 2000, the mass action supported Gbagbo and forced Guéï out of power; and was thereof killed with his family. Guéï had barred other potential contenders to participate in the election, something Ouattara has replicated despite knowing the danger such a move presents to him and the country.
Further, methinks the ECOWAS that recently intervened in Mali after the army seized power, needs to timely, quickly and inviolably apply the same. For, what’s to happen in Ivory Coast is no different from what transpired in Mali. The only difference between the two is that a civilian in Ivory Coast wants to stage a coup as opposed to the military in Mali. To me, a coup is a coup. It is bad, dangerous and illegal to any country. Therefore, the ECOWAS should use the same logic, power and vivacity to address the matter in Ivory Coast despite the fact that Ouattara is a friend of many heads of state in the region.
If economic sanctions work in Mali, they also must be applied on Ivory Coast. Actually, the ECOWAS has a precedent. Its intervention in The Gambia, in 2017, peacefully and successfully dislodged a longtime dictator, Yahya Jammeh who didn’t want to relinquish power as was the case with Laurent Gbagbo, Ouattara’s predecessor whose ouster was necessitated by France.
There’s no way the ECOWAS and the international community at large can allow the contempt of the constitution and power grab in Ivory Coast whose politics gyrates around tribalism. When it comes to the lessons from Malawi, it was among the first African country to defeat the dictators through the ballot box whereby Hastings Kamuzu Banda, Malawi’s longtime dictator lost to Muluzi before he too, was forced to abandon his quest to run for the third term in office. The same happened in Zambia shortly before where former president Frederick Chiluba’s attempt to cling to power was foiled by the citizens.
After enjoying the ballyhoos and saccharinity of power, Muluzi wanted to stay longer than two terms allowed constitutionally. Thus, he wanted a third term, which Malawians denied him. To mention but a few, in Burundi, the DRC and Togo respectively, former presidents, Pierre Nkurunziza, Joseph Kabila and Faure Eyadema got away with blue murder by forcefully and illegally securing more time in office. While other countries such as Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Rwanda, Uganda and many others, presidents have shown the crave for power, to the contrary, Tanzania’s president John Pombe Magufuli flatly refused to buy into this tyranny despite many Tanzanians asking him to stay on after completing his constitutional two terms of presidency come 2025.
Distressingly, in Ivory Coast where Ouattara, who–––just like Muluzi–––came to power under the groundswell of democracy that saw some dictators pulled down, the lesson seems to be hard to comprehend and grasp. So, too, in Senegal, Abdoulaye Wade tried to perfect third term unconstitutionality to no avail. In neighbouring Burkinabe, former felony, Blaise Compaore, was shown the door after lording it over for many years while in Guinea, the imbroglio is still ongoing. All such incidents have a great lesson to Ouattara and the like not to forget Africa at large. Will Ouattara get away with murder? Circumstances and time will tell.
After serving two terms in office, Ouattara illegally wants more time to savor power more. Will Ivorians take a leaf from Malawi and foil this attempt to send the country back to dictatorship or just crouch down and shamelessly destroy their country willy-nilly? Will they replicate their solidarity that saw Robert Guéï–––another tinpot dictator who illegally seized power–––being stymied and pulled down from violating their constitution and rights to remain in power? While Malawi only suffered from a longtime dictatorship, it never experienced any civil war as is the case with Ivory Coast whose recovery from such a crime has existed just for a decade now when Ouattara wants to kink it back.
Paradoxically, Ouattara had already accepted to relinquish power soon after the expiration of his constitutional two terms. Before Ouattara made a volte-face, the AFP (March 5th, 2020) quoted him as saying “I have decided not to be candidate in the Oct. 31 presidential election and to transfer power to a new generation.” Is he the new generation is talking about that wants to replace himself? Behind the curtains, he’d already handpicked his protégé, former prime minister, Amadou Gon Coulibaly who died on 8th July, 2020 forcing Ouattara to abuse the constitution by deciding to stay on illegally. An African proverb has it that He who is wise endeavours to learn how to understand the truth not less than that. If anything, Ouattara’s doubletalk is a good hunch for the ECOWAS and Ivorians opposed to power seizure should hang our hat on to force Ouattara to abandon his power greed and hold on power under what Guillaume Soro, former Ouattara ally and prime minister, refers to as elections aimed at endorsing the institutional state coup d’état by Alassane Ouattara.
In addition, the Al Jazeera (September 17th, 2020) quoted Soro as saying that he believes there won’t be elections scheduled in October 31st. Up until now, there have already occurred the massacres of four people as the results of the confrontation between Ouattara and those who oppose his bid to presidency. According to the Al Jazeera (August 14th, 2020), three people were killed in the central town of Daoukro in clashes between Ouattara supporters and backers of rival candidate Henri Konan Bedi, also a former president who aspires to run for presidency. To make matters worse, former president Laurent Gbagbo’s party, the Ivorian Popular Front (IFP), wants him to run for president. Interestingly, Ivory Coast, like Mali, seems to suffer from power hunger by its elites. For, in 2000, the mass action supported Gbagbo and forced Guéï out of power; and was thereof killed with his family. Guéï had barred other potential contenders to participate in the election, something Ouattara has replicated despite knowing the danger such a move presents to him and the country.
Further, methinks the ECOWAS that recently intervened in Mali after the army seized power, needs to timely, quickly and inviolably apply the same. For, what’s to happen in Ivory Coast is no different from what transpired in Mali. The only difference between the two is that a civilian in Ivory Coast wants to stage a coup as opposed to the military in Mali. To me, a coup is a coup. It is bad, dangerous and illegal to any country. Therefore, the ECOWAS should use the same logic, power and vivacity to address the matter in Ivory Coast despite the fact that Ouattara is a friend of many heads of state in the region.
If economic sanctions work in Mali, they also must be applied on Ivory Coast. Actually, the ECOWAS has a precedent. Its intervention in The Gambia, in 2017, peacefully and successfully dislodged a longtime dictator, Yahya Jammeh who didn’t want to relinquish power as was the case with Laurent Gbagbo, Ouattara’s predecessor whose ouster was necessitated by France.
There’s no way the ECOWAS and the international community at large can allow the contempt of the constitution and power grab in Ivory Coast whose politics gyrates around tribalism. When it comes to the lessons from Malawi, it was among the first African country to defeat the dictators through the ballot box whereby Hastings Kamuzu Banda, Malawi’s longtime dictator lost to Muluzi before he too, was forced to abandon his quest to run for the third term in office. The same happened in Zambia shortly before where former president Frederick Chiluba’s attempt to cling to power was foiled by the citizens.
Similarly, Malawi set another positive precedent. It became the second country to see presidential victory annulled by the Supreme Courts after Kenya. These are the only two African countries whose presidential wins were declared null and void. In Kenya, president Uhuru Kenyatta went ahead to win the rerun election though, in Malawi the stars didn’t align and thus, once again, proved tough in protecting its democracy after former president professor Peter Mutharika lost the rerun to Lazarus Chakwera.
A long story short, it is upon the ECOWAS to adequately and decisively resolve the matter and improve and protect democracy or flout it for its credibility peril. For, it is more answerable in this conflict since it has already shown its clout in addressing similar problems even where the African Unity (AU) happened to falter or sleep at the wheel. Arguably, ignoring the situation in Ivory Coast is nothing but double standard that won’t only imperil the region and set a debauched precedent but also encourage other power-crazy monsters to illegally remain in power. If this is allowed, democracy in Africa will receive a hit. There’s no slapping Ouattara in the wrist but in the face to send a strong message. It is time for Ouattara to come of age and own his promise to vacate the office of the president as he promised in March. If he remains adamant and cagey, he’d remember what happened to Gbagbo and Guéï when they tried to cling to power. The ECOWAS should intervene quickly to save democracy in Ivory Coast that shows how third term in office has become Africa’s peril of democracy and the perpetuation of dictatorship.
A long story short, it is upon the ECOWAS to adequately and decisively resolve the matter and improve and protect democracy or flout it for its credibility peril. For, it is more answerable in this conflict since it has already shown its clout in addressing similar problems even where the African Unity (AU) happened to falter or sleep at the wheel. Arguably, ignoring the situation in Ivory Coast is nothing but double standard that won’t only imperil the region and set a debauched precedent but also encourage other power-crazy monsters to illegally remain in power. If this is allowed, democracy in Africa will receive a hit. There’s no slapping Ouattara in the wrist but in the face to send a strong message. It is time for Ouattara to come of age and own his promise to vacate the office of the president as he promised in March. If he remains adamant and cagey, he’d remember what happened to Gbagbo and Guéï when they tried to cling to power. The ECOWAS should intervene quickly to save democracy in Ivory Coast that shows how third term in office has become Africa’s peril of democracy and the perpetuation of dictatorship.
Source: African Executive Magazine today.
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