Ivory Coast - The African Mirror

Sep

2020

Ivory Coast opposition calls for protests to stop Ouattara’s third term bid

ANGE ABOA IVORY Coast's main presidential election challenger and a group of opposition parties have called for a civil disobedience campaign to stop President Alassane Ouattara's bid for a third term on October 31. The election is seen as one of the biggest tests of the stability of the West African nation since a disputed election led to a brief civil war in 2010-11. Henri Konan Bedie Ivory Coast's Constitutional Council has cleared Ouattara, former president Henri Konan Bedie and two other candidates to contest in the vote. Bedie told a packed opposition PDCI party hall in Abidjan that the…

Sep

2020

By The African Mirror

Ivory Coast council approves President Ouattara for third term bid

NEWS

IVORY Coast's Constitutional Council ruled that President Alassane Ouattara is eligible to run for a third term in the October 31 presidential election, even as opponents said his candidacy jeopardises the West African country's democracy. Violent protests have rocked Ivory Coast since Ouattara, in power since 2010, announced his candidacy. Over a dozen people have died in clashes between protesters and police since August. The constitution says the president can only stay in power for two terms, but Ouattara has argued that the publication of a new constitution in 2016 reset his presidency. The unrest has political observers worried that…

Sep

2020

By The African Mirror

Protests erupt in Ivory Coast against Ouattara’s third term bid

NEWS

POLICE in Ivory Coast have fired tear gas to break up demonstrations against President Alassane Ouattara's decision to run for a third term in office that opponents say jeopardises the West African country's democracy. Protesters set up barricades and shut down down traffic in several towns including the commercial capital Abidjan, where a burning bus sent high plumes of black smoke from the densely-populated Yopogoun district. Demonstrators also torched a truck in the western city of Bangolo, witnesses said. Violent protests have rocked Ivory Coast since Ouattara, in power since 2010, said he would run for a third term in…

Sep

2020

By The African Mirror

Ivory Coast government seeks end to violence ahead of October election

NEWS

IVORY Coast President Alassane Ouattara's government has reached out to his main opponents and religious leaders to intervene and ease tensions following his decision to bid for a third term in next month's election. Ouattara made his appeal to religious leaders during a tour of the east of the country. A source in Ouattara's office told Reuters that informal discussions have been held with political leaders. The world's top cocoa-producing nation has seen a spate of violent protests, with a least 10 killed and over a hundred wounded in clashes between protesters and police since Ouattara announced his bid in…

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

Ivory Coast president sees growth slowing to 1.8% in 2020

BUSINESS

IVORY Coast's economic growth is expected to slow to 1.8% in 2020 from a projected 7.2% due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, according to President Alassane Ouattara. Several sectors of the Ivorian economy including agriculture, construction, transport and tourism have been hit by the outbreak that has slowed gross domestic product (GDP) in the world's top cocoa producer, Ouattara said. Ivory Coast's GDP growth had averaged around 8% between 2012 and 2019, Ouattara said during a speech at the annual general meeting of the African Development Bank. - Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

Ivory Coast’s Ouattara applies to run for third term amid protests

NEWS

ANGE ABOA IVORY Coast President Alassane Ouattara on Monday submitted his application to run for a third term after more protests by opponents who say the constitution forbids him to contest the October election. Over the weekend several shops and a timber truck were torched during ethnic violence between Ouattara supporters and opposition in the southern city of Divo, a cocoa-growing hub, according to images shared on social media. It is not yet clear what casualties the latest unrest may have caused. Five people have been killed and more than 100 wounded in clashes between protesters and police since Ouattara,…

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

Ivory Coast President Ouattara to run for third term

NEWS

LOUCOUMANE COULIBALY IVORY Coast President Alassane Ouattara has revealed that he would seek re-election in October, formally accepting the ruling party's nomination to be its candidate and defying opponents who say the constitution forbids a third term. Ouattara, who has governed since 2011, said in March he would not run again. But his preferred successor, then-prime minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly, died in July, leading the party to ask Ouattara to reconsider. The election is seen as the greatest test yet of the tenuous stability achieved since a brief civil war in 2010 and 2011 killed about 3,000 people following Ouattara's…

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

Ivory Coast police fire teargas at supporters of former president

NEWS

POLICE fired teargas to disperse a protest in the commercial capital, Abidjan, on Thursday against the exclusion of former President Laurent Gbagbo and others from the voter rolls for October's presidential election. Hundreds of protesters had gathered outside the national electoral commission's headquarters to demand that Gbagbo, his ally Charles Ble Goude and former prime minister Guillaume Soro be included in the rolls, a Reuters witness said. Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara. Photo: Presidency of the Republic of Benin The electoral commission said the three were not included because of criminal convictions and that it will consider appeals against their…

Aug

2020

By The African Mirror

Ivory Coast’s former PM named by Gbagbo’s party as presidential candidate

NEWS

THE party of Ivory Coast's former president Laurent Gbagbo named his one-time prime minister Pascal Affi N'Guessan as its candidate for the October presidential vote, ending speculation Gbagbo might return from abroad to stand. The election is seen as the biggest test yet of the tenuous stability achieved since a civil war in 2010-11 in which around 3,000 people were killed, sparked by Gbagbo's refusal to step down from office after a disputed election. "I am a winning candidate and we will win," N'Guessan told members of the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) party ahead of their vote for his candidacy.…

Jul

2020

By The African Mirror

Ivory Coast defence minister Bakayoko named prime minister

NEWS

IVORY Coast President Alassane Ouattara has appointed Defence Minister Hamed Bakayoko as prime minister after his predecessor died suddenly this month, the presidency has announced. The death of former Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly, who had been handpicked by Ouattara to succeed him, left his ruling party scrambling to find a replacement three months ahead of the presidential election. The Oct. 31 vote is seen as crucial for the stability of Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer, which has spent Ouattara's decade in office rebuilding from a brief civil war that followed his first election win in 2010. Bakayoko,…