The Ivorian head of government Hamed Bakayoko died on Wednesday 10 March 2021 in Freiburg, Germany. He was hospitalized there in the morning of March 06, 2021 for the treatment of cancer. Born on 8 March 1965 in Abidjan, he was a former journalist and media boss. He was also an essential figure of power and a member of the RHDP Republican Rally, the party of President Alassane Ouattara, of which he was one of the most loyal actors. He became Prime Minister of Côte d’Ivoire in 2020.
Prime Minister Hamed Bakayoko retired on March 10, 2021 at the age of 56. Following complications, he was evacuated on February 18, 2021 to the American hospital in France before being transferred to Freiburg in Germany where he finally succumbed to a very advanced cancer.
Hambak, as the Ivorians called him, was a PDCI student union leader before he entered the political circle. It was in March 2013, that he was appointed for the first time to a ministerial position as Minister of Communication and Information under the regime of former President Laurent Gbagbo. When he came to power alongside Alassane ouattara President Hamed Bakayoko, he was successively Minister of the Interior then Minister of State Minister of Defence before holding the post of Prime Minister since July 2020, Head of Government and Minister of Defence after the death of Amadou Gon Coulibaly. He was also a media man and founder of the daily newspaper “Le Patriote”. He ran the country’s first private commercial radio station, Radio Nostalgia. In 2018, he was the first magistrate of the Abobo commune
Hamed Bakayoko was declared the winner in the recent general elections on Sunday 7 March 2021, but will not be able to celebrate this victory. He was the facilitator in the political dialogue. He had managed to bring together the ruling power, the Ivorian opposition and civil society actors at the same table. A political act that allowed the peaceful organization of the parliamentary elections which took place without disturbance or clashes.
Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara paid him a heartfelt tribute in these words:“Prime Minister Hamed Bakayoko has served Côte d’Ivoire with dedication and selflessness. He was a great statesman, a model for our youth”.
