Mr. Sanneh, I agree with your assessment. The last thing we should want is
for one more life be lost in any controversy surrounding an election re-run;
especially, (as you pointed out) if Ouattarra is going to gain some
semblance of power come December. As you can tell from a few of my postings,
am reluctantly willing to subscribe to the idea of giving Gbagbo a chance in
order to save lives. But I must express my disappointment in Gbagbo and his
intellectuals for their undemocratic and unpatriotic stand. What is going on
in Ivory Coast now is not very different from what happened last December
when the military took a retired general (technically a civilian) and
install him in power. The elections they had in October was just a sham
elections. Had Gbagbo been prevented from running in those elections, I
doubt whether his intellectuals would now be defending the integrity of
those elections. To now use the military and terror tactics and hold the
country at ransom is disingenuous.  Ouattarra has the same grievance against
Gbagbo that the latter had against Guei. Gbagbo was the victim of elections
fraud when Guei declared himself the winner and Ouattarra is now the victim
of election fraud. This is indeed a good lesson for all Africans. Our
leaders behave like kids in candy stores. They want everything to
themselves. There are even no guarantees that Ouattarra would have acted
properly had he been in Gbagbo's position. I hope our opposition parties
back home would learn from this and not betray each other and deal with the
devil (Yaya). But one thing I have learnt is that politicians tend to have a
very selective memory. They don't learn from history. The same xenophobia
that led to the demise of Bedie also led to the downfall of Guei. One would
have thought that Gbagbo will not fall into the same trap. But like the
typical African leader he is, he cannot save himself from himself. He will
push his luck to the brink, trampling on people as long as he can get away
with it. These leaders are not motivated by what is fair and good for the
people. Instead they are more preoccupied by what is going to perpetuate
them in power. It is selfish of Gbagbo to ask Ivorians to leave him in power
because if they don't, there would be war in the country. That is blackmail.
The presidency is not his birth-right and he has to earn in. Participating
in an election where more than half of the electorate boycotted the
elections, does not suffice. People like Gbagbo, Guei, Yaya etc. ought to be
ashamed of themselves. Nelson Mandela spent the best part of his life
fighting injustice in his country. Talk about earning a presidency. Yet the
man was even reluctant to be the leader of the ANC. Oliver Tambo had to
literally beg him to assume the leadership of the ANC. After assuming the
ANC leadership, did we hear him saying that he should be automatically
crowned as president of South Africa? The man participated in a free
elections and shared with De Klerk. When he became president, did we witness
him changing the rules so that he can remain president for the rest of his
life? The man left office voluntarily. These are the standards we should set
for our leaders. They should be honorable men that are prepared to do what
is right for the people and not follow their own selfish agendas that often
end up visiting misery on their people.
Again, since am not in Abidjan and cannot really gauge the mood of the
country, I will give Gbagbo benefit of the doubt. It is more important to
save Ivorian lives than to fight Gbagbo on grounds of principle. Having said
that, I must say that I have lost all respect for this man. If I were in his
position, I will first of all tell my supporters that violence is not an
option. I will revise the Constitution and repeal the unfair provisions. I
will form a government of national unity (where all the political parties
will participate) and then hold an elections re-run in three months.
Alternatively, they can let technocrats (that will be forbidden from running
for office in the coming elections) run the government while politicians
campaign for a re-run in a month's time. That is the fair thing to do.
Thanks again Mr. Sanneh for your contributions. If only we had men of
integrity like your humble self running our African nations, we would not be
in the troubles we now find ourselves. I might not agree with the cautious
approach towards Gbagbo, but I respect your stand so long as it is borne out
of concern for the ordinary Ivorian.
KB


>From: Sidi M Sanneh <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Ivory Coast: Reflections on people power
>Date: Fri, 3 Nov 2000 10:53:26 GMT
>
>Mr. Dampha,
>
>My initial reaction to Barnaby Phillips' report aired yesterday was similar
>to yours.  However, I am willing to give Gbagbo's government which is
>barely
>a week old a chance to get to know his way around the bureacracy he has
>inherited.  Certainly, there are many old hands of the former Bedie and
>Guei
>regimes still around. How long they will remain in Gbagbo's regime is any
>body's guess. The moment of truth will be the December legislative
>elections.  Should Ouattara's party and the PDCI win the majority of seats
>as many political pundits believe, then Gbagbo will be left with little
>choice but to compromise in one form or another, including a re-run. Why
>force a re-run now, with all the dangers associated with this option, when
>all the major players seem to be moving toward the middle ground, including
>Ouattara who is seen as the main victim of a scewed electoral process? The
>stakes are high: not only for CI but for the entire West Africa region.
>
>Sidi Sanneh
>
>
>>From: Dampha Kebba <[log in to unmask]>
>>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
>><[log in to unmask]>
>>To: [log in to unmask]
>>Subject: Ivory Coast: Reflections on people power
>>Date: Thu, 2 Nov 2000 16:08:39 EST
>>
>>See below an article I culled from the BBC. I thought it might interest
>>some
>>of you. Of particular interest to me was the depiction of the hypocrites
>>that seem to survive the turmoil, so far. Since am not in Abidjan, I will
>>defer to Mr. Sanneh and others who seem to think that Gbagbo should be
>>allowed to benefit from this fiasco. The same shenanigans that led to the
>>demise of Bedie and Guei will also destroy Gbagbo. I hope I am wrong, for
>>the sake of the ordinary Ivorians. If we all agree that the October
>>elections are flawed, then the fair thing to do is to call a re-run.
>>Otherwise, we are just postponing the inevitable. I heard one of Gbagbo's
>>supporters on BBC the other day saying that the Outtarra myth was just
>>Western propaganda and that Ouattarra is not that popular in Ivory Coast.
>>If
>>that is the case, Gbagbo should not fear elections.
>>KB
>>
>>_______________________________________________________________________
>>
>>
>>By Barnaby Phillips in Abidjan
>>The very best and the very worst of humanity were so vividly on display in
>>the main Ivorian city, Abidjan, this past week that I shall never forget
>>it.
>>
>>When growing tensions finally exploded, I spent much of my time, crouched
>>by
>>the window of the BBC office, so conveniently located in the very centre
>>of
>>the city.
>>
>>We watched in awe as the crowds marched towards the soldiers on the
>>streets
>>below.
>>
>>Sometimes the soldiers fired over their heads, but sometimes they fired
>>right into their ranks - live ammunition.
>>
>>The crowds would fall as each volley was fired, wait a moment, and then
>>rise
>>and carry on walking.
>>
>>Except that we could see that after each volley, not everyone got up - a
>>few
>>just lay still.
>>
>>It was this courage that carried the crowds forward, right to the gates of
>>the presidential palace, and forced military leader General Robert Guei
>>into
>>an ignominious and hurried departure.
>>
>>Reality
>>
>>The following day, with the general gone, and the real winner of the
>>elections, Laurent Gbagbo, ready to be sworn in as president, we were
>>confronted with a much uglier and more complicated reality.
>>
>>Now we were out on the streets, driving through neighbourhoods devoid of
>>all
>>signs of life except for the ominous sight of gangs of young men guarding
>>each junction ahead.
>>
>>They carried clubs, and their faces were covered in war paint, and they
>>would order us to stop.
>>
>>These were many of the same youths who had defied the bullets the day
>>before
>>- now they were hunting down supporters of Laurent Gbagbo's great rival,
>>Alassane Ouattara, who had enraged them with his call for new elections.
>>
>>"We are patriots and intellectuals, fighting a noble cause" one man said
>>to
>>me, as he checked whether passing vehicles were carrying anyone from the
>>north of the country, which is Mr Ouattara's power-base.
>>
>>Any northerner discovered was lucky to be stripped naked and beaten -
>>dozens
>>were clubbed to death.
>>
>>Africa's Milosevic?
>>
>>Typically African you might say - that the heroism of a Belgrade-style
>>people's uprising should degenerate so rapidly into that grim but familiar
>>scenario of a vicious ethnic conflict.
>>
>>Well, perhaps, although there are plenty of people in Africa who will
>>argue
>>that if the Balkan wars weren't tribal, then what on earth were they?
>>
>>I'm not quite sure whether General Robert Guei is Africa's Milosevic, as
>>some of the banners held up by the crowd suggested.
>>
>>The two men share a lust for power, which made them utterly indifferent to
>>the disastrous consequences of their actions for their respective
>>countries.
>>
>>But General Guei never really seemed like a man in control.
>>
>>The evening before he was overthrown, we gathered in the presidential
>>palace
>>for an extraordinary press conference.
>>
>>Just an hour earlier, the military had forcibly dissolved the electoral
>>commission, which was giving out results suggesting that General Guei had
>>lost.
>>
>>Pushing his luck
>>
>>This was more then he could take - he accused the commission of
>>incompetence, and produced his own set of results, which gave him victory.
>>
>>It was outrageous, and the general had pushed his luck too far.
>>
>>Outside the palace central Abidjan was already deserted, as people rushed
>>home, fearing the worst.
>>
>>Across the river, in the poorer suburbs, the barricades were already going
>>up.
>>
>>But in the palace, the General was thanking the people for their wise
>>selection, and promising to do the job to the best of his modest
>>abilities.
>>
>>The crowd of cronies and sycophants sang the national anthem, and the
>>General left the room.
>>
>>He's not been seen in public since.
>>
>>Plus ca change
>>
>>I marvelled at the stupidity of his closest supporters, and wondered what
>>would happen to them in the tumultuous hours that were bound to follow.
>>
>>In fact, it was me who was being naïve.
>>
>>Two days later, in that same palace, the world had turned upside down, and
>>yet nothing had changed.
>>
>>Laurent Gbagbo, for years seen as little more than a rabble-rouser off the
>>street, was being sworn in as the new president.
>>
>>His wife could not hold back her tears.
>>
>>And there, in the room, were many of the same men, their faces beaming
>>with
>>smiles, who had stood beside General Guei two nights earlier.
>>
>>The impossibly suave Armenian, who has somehow made himself indispensable
>>to
>>everyone who rules Ivory Coast. And Brigadier-General Mattius Due, who had
>>quickly transformed himself from hard-man in the military junta, to army
>>chief-of-staff, serving a democratic government.
>>
>>And perhaps that is the real lesson of all revolutions, be they in Africa
>>or
>>in Yugoslavia.
>>
>>For all the gun-shots, smoke and drama, the really powerful people remain
>>discreetly in the background, and, once the crowds have dispersed, quickly
>>pick up where they left off.
>>
>>_________________________________________________________________________
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