Latest news with #AlassaneOuattara
Arab News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Ivorian jailed for saying president should not have been born
Tokpa Flan Japhet, a 43-year-old nurse, 'was tried and sentenced on July 18 to 36 months in prison'Japhet had in a Facebook post said if Ouattara's mother had 'had an abortion' she 'would have saved Africa'ABIDJIAN: Ivory Coast has sentenced a nurse to three years in jail for saying Africa would have been saved if President Alassane Ouattara had not been sentence comes months before the west African country's presidential election at the end of October, with the opposition accusing Ouattara's government of attempting to stifle dissent in the youth leaders from the main opposition Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI) have been arrested since June over a social media post calling for mobilization against the party leader Tidjane Thiam is among several prominent opposition figures to have been excluded from the October 25 Flan Japhet, a 43-year-old nurse, 'was tried and sentenced on July 18 to 36 months in prison' and fined $8,500 'despite his request for a pardon,' Abidjan's public prosecutor Oumar Braman Kone said in a statement on had in a Facebook post said if Ouattara's mother had 'had an abortion' she 'would have saved Africa.''Neither repentance... nor a request for forgiveness has any effect on the reality of the offenses,' Kone man, Moussa Diakate, was arrested after posting a video in which he 'made death threats against supporters of a political group,' the prosecutor Coast, a former beacon of stability in troubled west Africa, has repeatedly experienced violence during elections after the country's first coup in late 2010 and early 2011, poll-related violence claimed some 3,000 lives after then-president Laurent Gbagbo refused to recognize Ouattara's election 83, has not confirmed whether he will run for a fourth term, although he has been tapped by his party to do so.
Free Malaysia Today
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
Ivory Coast ex-minister released after apologising for election criticism
Supporters of Alassane Ouattara, President of the Ivory Coast, attend a rally at the Ebimpe Olympic Stadium in Abidjan. (EPA Images pic) ABIDJAN : A former minister for Ivory Coast's ruling party who was arrested in June for criticising the exclusion of opposition candidates from upcoming presidential elections was released Monday after apologising, his lawyer said. Joel N'Guessan, who served as human rights minister in 2006-2007 and is a former spokesperson for the current ruling party, was arrested June 18 for 'discrediting the judicial institution and magistrates', according to prosecutors. The courts have banned four opposition figures, including former president Laurent Gbagbo, from the Oct 25 poll. In an interview with just before his arrest, N'Guessan stated that he was 'convinced that the exclusion of certain political actors will lead to a national crisis'. This past Saturday, N'Guessan apologised for his comments, and on Monday his lawyer Ange Rodrigue Dadje said in a statement that he has been granted a 'provisional release' and had returned to his residence, though he omitted whether his client still faces charges. 'I realised that my interview shocked many people in the justice system, particularly judges,' the ex-minister wrote in a statement Saturday. 'I therefore wish to offer my sincere apologies to the judicial system and the judges for my comments in this interview,' he added. Casting 'discredit on institutions' can be punished by three to five years of prison in the Ivory Coast. The West African country has experienced numerous outbreaks of violence during elections. In late 2010 and early 2011, the election of President Alassane Ouattara – an outcome contested by his rival Gbagbo – sparked turmoil which left some 3,000 people dead. The ruling party has regularly denied intervening in the electoral process, saying it leaves decisions to what it claims is an independent judiciary.
Zawya
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Zawya
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) pre-election information mission in Côte d'Ivoire meets with political parties and groups, religious and traditional leaders
'We are listening to everyone, and then we will formulate recommendations that will be forwarded to the President of the ECOWAS Commission, H.E. Omar Alieu Touray. He will take the political decisions, in consultation with the current Chair of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS, H.E. Julius Madaa Bio, President of the Republic of Sierra Leone,' explained Theodore Holo, Head of the ECOWAS pre-election mission, to the various stakeholders he met on the 2nd and 3rd of July, 2025. On Wednesday 2nd of July 2025, the ECOWAS mission met with leaders of the Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire (PDCI-RDA), the Coalition of the Congress for Democracy and Peace (CAP-CI), the Constitutional Council, the African People's Party – Côte d'Ivoire (PPA-CI) and finally, the Rally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP party. On Thursday 3rd of July 2025, the ECOWAS mission paid a courtesy visit to the President of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, H.E. Alassane OUATTARA. The mission then met with religious and traditional authorities as well as journalists from local private media at the headquarters of the ECOWAS Representation in Côte d'Ivoire. In the afternoon, Prof. Holo visited the Ministry of Defence, where he was received in audience by Minister Téné Birahima Ouattara. During his meetings with the stakeholders, Prof. HOLO explained the objectives of the consultation, which are to gather information and assess the political and institutional environment, as well as the aid needs to ensure that the elections are conducted in a free, transparent, and peaceful manner. Nevertheless, Prof. Holo encouraged and advocated for dialogue between political actors with a view to finding a lasting solution to ongoing challenges or those that could hinder the electoral process. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ivory Coast youth, a giant majority, await their turn in politics
As Ivory Coast heads for presidential elections this year, the heaviest hitters remain two octogenarians who have dominated its politics for decades -- but three in four citizens in the African dynamo are under 35. At age 83, President Alassane Ouattara, whose party has nominated him to run for a fourth term in the October elections, has been in office for 15 years. His top rival is the man he ousted from power after two bloody civil wars, Laurent Gbagbo, 80, who has declared his candidacy, even though he is barred from running over a conviction stemming from the conflict. That leaves little room for a new, politically engaged generation to seek power in one of the world's fastest-growing economies -- an issue young politicians say they are trying to handle with patience as they await their turn in an ageing political arena. "It's a gerontocracy," said political scientist Geoffroy Kouao. "Our political parties generally have elderly leaders," he told AFP. "In the popular imagination, 'youth' is a synonym for political immaturity. The leaders don't trust them." The only member of government under the age of 50 in Ivory Coast is currently Youth Minister Mamadou Toure, 49. Tidjane Thiam, the leader of the main opposition party, the Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI), has been hailed as a figure of "renewal", at age 62. Yet 75.6 percent of Ivory Coast's 29 million people are under 35, the minimum age to run for president. - Biding their time - The shortage of youth in top leadership roles is partly cultural, said Mylene Amary Kacou, the 32-year-old vice president of Gbagbo's party, the African People's Party -- Ivory Coast (PPA-CI). "In Africa, we say our elders are always right," she said. Like other emerging political figures interviewed by AFP, 40-year-old Valentin Kouassi of the PDCI said he values learning from his more-experienced elders. But "you don't get into politics without having ambitions of your own," he said. The country should be "as democratic as possible", he said -- a doubly pointed comment, given both the lack of young people in power and the fact his party's leader, Thiam, has been banned from running after a court ruling cast doubt on his nationality. Critics have condemned the bans on Thiam, Gbagbo and two other opposition figures as attempts to sideline Ouattara adversaries, accusations the government denies. Young Ivorians who oppose Ouattara's government broadly share the same complaint: a lack of good jobs. The official unemployment rate in the leading cocoa and palm oil producer is 2.3 percent. But 88.4 percent of jobs are in the poorly paid informal sector, according to the African Development Bank. Struggling to find their place in the economy and in politics, many young Ivorians are torn between chasing their dreams and patiently waiting their turn. - 'Climb through the ranks' - "I want to climb through the ranks. But I'm not putting my personal ambitions first," said another rising young politician, Mamadou Kone, 36, a youth ministry adviser and youth leader of the ruling RHDP party. Issouf Olivier Traore, 29, rejects criticism that Ivory Coast's youth are apolitical. Traore, the national youth secretary for opposition movement Ivory Coast Today and Tomorrow (ADCI), ran unsuccessfully in the 2023 local elections. "My generation supported me. They're ready to get involved if one of their own accepts the challenge" of running for office, he said. He called for a country where peaceful transfers of power are the norm, after a series of bloody election-related crises and conflicts from 2002 to 2011. "That's what we young people want to see," he said. As they wait for their own careers to take off, youth leaders are loyally supporting their elders for the October elections. But they have their sights set high -- like PPA-CI vice president Kacou, who said she sees herself as "minister or president -- why not?" "But in 25 or 30 years," she added. bam/pid/jhb/kjm
Kuwait Times
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Kuwait Times
Ivory Coast leader Ouattara tapped to run for fourth term
ABIDJAN: Ivory Coast leader Alassane Ouattara's party on Saturday tapped him to run for president again, two days after the country's two main opposition parties joined forces to fight his possible candidacy. Ouattara himself has not yet confirmed whether or not he will run for a fourth term as president of the west African country. But delegates accepted his candidacy after Patrick Achi, head of the congress of the ruling Rally of Houphouetists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP), proposed him in the president's absence. His nomination comes after weeks of rising political tensions triggered by the courts' barring of several opposition politicians from the October 25 election. Ouattara's critics, who accuse the US-trained economist of creeping authoritarianism, fiercely oppose his possible candidacy. Ivory Coast's two main opposition parties on Thursday announced a 'common front' to demand that their leaders, banned from October presidential polls, be allowed to stand. It brings together the African People's Party - Ivory Coast (PPA-CI) of former president Laurent Gbagbo and former international banker Tidjane Thiam's Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI), the country's largest opposition force. Gbagbo, whose contesting of the 2010 vote which saw Ouattara elected triggered violence which killed 3,000 people, is among the politicians the courts have struck off the list of candidates for president. 'Continue the adventure' Whether Ouattara will run again is the question on everyone's lips in the west African nation. Ouattara, who will turn 84 in January, has maintained the suspense for months. A comment made in January that he was 'eager to continue serving' the country has so far been the only clue he is considering a fourth term. Ouattara is on Sunday due to address a major meeting at the Ebimpe stadium, where Ivory Coast's footballers won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2024. His supporters see the head of state, who made a career as an economist for the International Monetary Fund before turning to politics, as a beacon of stability. They loudly cheered his nomination on Saturday, chanting his nickname 'Ado' after his initials. 'He has to accept and listen to the cries of his children who are calling on him to continue the adventure,' said Honore Adom, who came to the congress from the eastern Indenie-Djuablin region. 'He has so pleased us that he must finish the works that he has begun,' Lassana Kone, who travelled from Gbeke in central Ivory Coast, told AFP. Before the thousands gathered at the congress in Abidjan, Ivory Coast's economic capital, the RHDP's leadership hailed Ouattara's stewardship of the country. On his watch Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer, has seen seven-percent economic growth nearly every year. 'Ivory Coast has made major advances on the economic, social and cultural fronts, with sustained growth that has made us the envy of many,' said Vice President Tiemoko Meyliet Kone. Equipment minister Amedee Koffi Kouakou said Ouattara had made the country 'a haven of peace' in an often restive region. Yet the president's critics have pointed to the striking-off of his potential opponents from running in the upcoming vote as evidence of Ouattara's increasing abuses of power. — AFP Besides ex-president Gbagbo, the courts have also prevented his former right-hand man Charles Ble Goude and ex-prime minister Guillaume Soro from taking part in the race on legal grounds. The PDCI's Thiam, who has been outside Ivory Coast since the middle of March, is barred for issues of nationality. The authorities have insisted that the decisions were taken by the independent courts, denying any political intervention in the electoral processes. — AFP
