The Ivorian president, elected to run for a third term, was sworn in on December 14, 2020 at the presidential palace in the presence of several African heads of state. Due to the current health crisis, the investiture ceremony was sober even if 300 people were invited.
Alassane Dramane Ouattara is therefore officially at the head of Côte d’Ivoire for a third term. Many of his counterparts took part in this investiture ceremony: Beninese President Patrice Talon from Benin, Togo Faure Gnassingbé, Democratic Republic of Congo Denis Sassou-Nguesso, Niger Mahamadou Issoufou or Ghana Nana Akufo-Addo , current president of ECOWAS. France, it was represented by its Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian.
President Alassane Ouattara took an oath on the Constitution in the presence of Mamadou Kone, President of the Constitutional Council. The “great necklace of the order” was given to him. The day before the swearing-in ceremony, the Ivorian head of state posted on Twitter the following message: “Sovereign people of Côte d’Ivoire, it is with pride, honor and aware of the immense responsibility that I ‘have to serve you, that I will renew, this Monday, December 14, my oath before the Constitutional Council and the entire Nation represented. ”
The investiture ceremony took place in a context of real political crisis in the country. The opposition, headed by Henri Konan Bédié, still contests the re-election of President Alassane Ouattara and demands “a national dialogue” in order to bring about reforms in the constitution and organize new elections. According to the Ivorian weekly Ivoir’Hebdo, 396 people close to the opposition are currently imprisoned and several others have preferred to leave the country in the face of the tyranny imposed by the President of the Republic.
However, other priorities await President Alassane Ouattara, particularly economically for the improvement of living conditions for Ivorians, but also politically: finding political appeasement to reconcile citizens.
