IVORY COAST
IVORY COAST – 77 years of Laurent Gbagbo, a life of thorns, combat and dignity
Article directed by Dan Singault de Blagouin from Abidjan.
This Monday, May 31, 2022, Laurent Gbagbo blows his seventy-seventh candle. And around the world, tributes are pouring in to celebrate this man with an exceptional political career. Mama’s Woody as his admirers and supporters call it did not have an easy life. His path marked by difficulties, prison stays but also brilliant victories testify to the tireless grip of this son of Mama.
Laurent Gbagbo was the political opponent who dared to stand up to Félix Houphouët Boigny, the first president of Côte d’Ivoire. It was under his pressure that this country returned to multiparty politics in 1990. Even though he lost the first multi-party presidential election in the same year to the ‘Vieux ” Houphouët, he has the merit of having made things happen. He courageously attacked everything he believed was harmful to the proper functioning of the country: Tribalism, corruption, France- Africa… With his former party, the Ivorian People’s Front, he has placed the freedom of the Ivorian people at the centre of his concerns, notwithstanding the deprivation of freedoms and various restrictions. In the face of temptations and trials, he remained worthy.
Today, he appears almost as a miracle. After his term was violently disrupted by a rebellion that broke out in 2002, the man held out until his arrest on 11 April 2011. Despite the partition of the country in 2002, Mama’s ‘Woody’ held firm the country’s handles while keeping its economy afloat through its ‘Secure Budget’. Few observers of the Ivorian political scene bet on his return after his imprisonment in The Hague in 2011. But the man has hard skin. He was acquitted after ten years of detention and returned with panache to his country on 17 June 2021. His ever more numerous followers, devote a real cult to him. Laurent Gbagbo is still popular. His new party, the African Peoples Party, PPA-CI, is in full construction. Like a sphynx, he is reborn from the ashes. As a political strategist, he got rid of the FPI and the judicial machinery that threatened him with this leadership conflict with his former prime minister Affi Nguessan Pascal. Neither the prison nor the political trials will have overcome the Woody.
77 years and Laurent Gbagbo is still in the political arena! ‘I am your soldier’, he said on his return to Côte d’Ivoire. And it seems to hold the political front well, for the happiness of its activists.
Happy birthday to Mama’s Woody!
Initially scheduled for Wednesday, June 11, 2025, the major march of the Democratic Party of Côte d’Ivoire – African Democratic Rally (PDCI-RDA), the main opposition party in Côte d’Ivoire, will finally take place on Saturday, June 14, 2025. This postponement was announced by the party’s Executive Secretary, who points out that the decision came after discussions between the PDCI leadership and the authorities of the Abidjan department. The details of these discussions have not been made public.
This demonstration, highly anticipated by the party’s activists and supporters, aims to support the candidacy of its president, Tidjane Thiam, in the presidential election of 2025, and to protest against his removal from the electoral list. A decision that the party qualifies as unfair and unacceptable, arguing for the right of all Ivorian citizens, including those with dual nationality, to participate in the political life of the country.
The route of the march remains unchanged: the protesters will leave from the SOCOCE space of the 2 Plateaux, in the municipality of Cocody, to head towards the headquarters of the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI). The party calls for a strong peaceful mobilization in order to convey a clear message: demand inclusive, transparent and peaceful elections.
The removal of Tidjane Thiam and other opposition figures is mainly based on the issue of dual nationality, a legal provision that continues to be debated as the election approaches. The PDCI, which sees in Thiam a rally candidate capable of unifying the Ivorians, intends to make this march a highlight of its campaign and its democratic fight.
Photo credit: Tidiane Thiam page
The list of presidential candidates in Côte d’Ivoire is expanding on Saturday, May 31, 2025. After the withdrawal of Tidjane Thiam, another candidate comes to replace him. The latter had submitted his application in 2020 but it was invalidated. Indeed, in his announcement of candidacy, the latter has emphasized the valorization of cultural and spiritual values of the country.
The presidential election in Côte d’Ivoire promises to be exciting. Some candidates have been withdrawn and others are being added to the list of candidates. Additions for a common purpose sitting in the chair. An objective that arouses the interest of Olivier Djè Bi Djè, who has submitted his candidacy. Thus, the deputy of the city of Zuénoula announced his candidacy for the presidential election of 25 October 2025 on 31 May 2025.
An application that was invalidated five years ago (2020) due to sponsorship non-compliance. However, this candidacy could be valid because the politician has well prepared his mount before launching. However, there is still some way to go. Indeed, to be sure, the member for Zuénoula of Côte d’Ivoire has an obligation to respect the electoral code by bringing together at least sponsorship in 17 independent regions.
Olivier Djè Bi Djè, in his candidacy announcement speech, unveiled his management plan once at the presidency headquarters. As the Ivorian politician is a manager, he opts for common management with a future of social justice, without forgetting peace and sustainable development.
He gave a pledge on leadership based on the identity of the country. It also intends to place cultural and spiritual values high on the agenda with traditional leaders. Finally, the new candidate calls for unity in order to address the country’s challenges as quickly as possible. He also counts on the population for a victory.
Source: africa-sur7 / Credit photo: afrique-sur7
IVORY COAST
IVORY COAST – Dominique Ouattara receives cultural actors and the UNAIDS Country Director
On Thursday, May 15, 2025, in the high-class district of Cocody in Abidjan, the first lady of Côte d’Ivoire, Dominique Ouattara, granted a series of hearings to two prominent cultural actors: the artist Dadju and Affou Keïta, as well as to Henk Van Renterghem, UNAIDS Country Director in Côte d’Ivoire These meetings were part of courtesy visits, cultural invitations and discussions on health issues related to the fight against HIV/AIDS.
First Lady of Côte d’Ivoire Dominique Ouattara received the artists and the UNAIDS representative in an official, no less convivial setting. She exchanged views with the two on cultural issues and with the other on the progress made by Côte d’Ivoire in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
French-Congolese artist Dadju Djuna Nsungula, better known as Dadju, came to express his gratitude to the First Lady. The Commission congratulated him on his exceptional career and the positive impact he has had on African youth. She then received the Ivorian singer Affou Keïta, who came to personally give her an official invitation to her live concert “Reconnaissance à l’effort de Paix”, scheduled for 30 May 2025 at the Palais de la Culture in Abidjan. This concert aims to promote peace and living together.
Henk Van Renterghem, UNAIDS Country Director in Côte d’Ivoire, came to provide an update on the progress of the fight against HIV/AIDS in the country. He shared updated data with the First Lady and discussed the challenges of declining international funding, including from the U.S. PEPFAR program. “We have come to give an update as it is said in English to the First Lady of the progress and important progress that the country has registered in the fight against AIDS with a view to achieving the target of eliminating this pandemic by 2030. I shared important figures on the progress made by Côte d’Ivoire,” said Mr Henk Van Renterghem.
For many years, Dominique Ouattara has been involved in the promotion of culture in Côte d’Ivoire. Ambassador for HIV/AIDS, the First Lady expressed her unwavering support for UNAIDS. She also renewed her commitment to eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
