Of course, midnight passed without Mr. Bakayoko proclaiming the provisional results; by which time the IEC was constitutionally foreclosed. Curiously, around 01:00 am, some diplomats were informed that Bakayoko was in conclave in his office at the IEC with the ambassadors of France and the United States. Those diplomats who went to Bakayoko’s office to inquire about this atypical meeting witnessed an even more disturbing exchange.
Bakayoko: “We have been able to consolidate the results from about 15 regions. No consensus has been reached yet regarding the remaining 4 regions. We are already Thursday. At 9:00 pm yesterday, we had agreed to make a declaration to the press in the presence of all the commissioners of the IEC.”
The diplomats: “Who is winning in the regions whose results have already been consolidated?”
Bakayoko: “Incumbent President Gbagbo is.”
Original Source: Notre Voie, 10/01/2011
Author: Charles Bédé
Photo: Youssouf Bakayoko & Philip Carter III
What has gotten into the American ambassador in Cote d’Ivoire, Mr. Philip Carter III? In his rush to conceal his role in the destructive plot weaved in complicity with his French counterpart against the people of Côte d’Ivoire, the US ambassador displayed uncommon lack of diplomatic skills in front of the journalists that he invited to his public relations breakfast last Friday [1/7/2011].

Since the beginning of the crisis in Côte d’Ivoire, the Ivorian president, Mr. Laurent Gbagbo, has maintained that the French ambassador (Jean Marc Simon) and the US ambassador (Philip Carter III) personally transported Mr. Youssouf Bakayoko [Head of the Ivorian Independent Electoral Comission (IEC)] to the Golf Hotel (campaign headquarters of Mr. Alassane Ouattara) to have him proclaim some election results there outside of the timeframe and outside of the institutional setting and procedures dictated by the Ivorian Constitution. Their reckless intrusion in the presidential electoral process by France and the United States is the source cause of the human and material disasters that the country has been faced with since December 2, 2010. President Gbagbo has not been bashful in accusing these two Western diplomats to have started the current post-electoral crisis in his country; and it is without doubt to respond to these accusations that the US ambassador organized his public relation breakfast of January 7. However, once in front of the journalists, Philip Carter III let his anger get the best of him.
Journalist: Why did you escort the president of the Independent Electoral Commission to the Golf Hotel?
“This accusation is completely false,” he hammered, before carrying on, visibly ill-at-ease in his role as a diplomat, “I was visiting Mr. Ouattara . . . I was surprised to see that Mr. Bakayoko was at the Golf Hotel. It was a surprise to me. I took advantage of the situation to ask Mr. Bakayoko what he was doing there. He told me that he was having difficulty making his declaration.”
This diplomat had been exposed by the press. Bakayoko had difficulty making his declaration? So then, Carter III suddenly forgot his “visit” to Ouattara. The gods of chance had caused him to meet a disconsolate Bakayoko in the hallways of Ouattara’s headquarter and Carter III automatically proceeded to put himself at the service of the President of the Independent Electoral Commission. The Ivorian elections became a matter of the US’s sovereignty. Philip Carter III should have known that in Cote d’Ivoire, just as in his own country the United States of America, the institutions put in place by the Constitution to resolve these “difficulties” are sacred. Perhaps Philip Carter III imagined himself to personify the Ivorian institution in charge of straightening out the “difficulties” of the President of the IEC. And his confession has a chilly effect: “I then asked [Bakayoko] what he was going to do. I proposed to Mr. Choi (the UN representative) that the announcement be made at the UN headquarters. He refused for fear that it should affect the impartiality of the United Nations. Mr. Bakayoko made his announcement, but I have nothing to do with it,” the US ambassador declared in front of the journalists. Obviously, his tale did not convince. In fact they even sounded pathetic.
So the journalists, skeptical, charged on:
“You are surprised to see Mr. Bakayoko at the Golf Hotel; you propose that the results be announced at the Hotel Sebroko (the UN’s headquarter); Mr. Choi refuses. How do you feel now that the results have been announced from the campaign HQ of an adversary?”
“This is good question, but frankly, I don’t know why he [Bakayoko] did that. He recently explained himself in the press. He found a site at the Golf Hotel. I don’t know why. You have to ask this question to Mr. Bakayoko himself”.
Last question from the journalists.
“Don’t you think that Mr. Gbagbo has legal ground to contest the fact the Mr. Bakayoko announced the results at the headquarter of Mr. Ouattara?”
An even more pathetic answer from Carter III: “It’s a question of political opinion. For me, the issue about the Independent Electoral Commission and the Constitutional Council is a little outdated. You have institutional problems that ought to be addressed, because they create much confusion here. With a certification of the United Nations, the result of this election is obvious . . . you have an institutional crisis, but this is an Ivorian question. The smooth running of the election has been certified by the United Nations. This is what matters most to us.”
Hopping from one subject to the next! Darn! In such a country filled with hyper intelligent people as the United States of America, by which circumstances has this man landed a job as ambassador to Côte d’Ivoire?
After the nightly schemes of Carter III, we met a number of diplomats, mainly African, who felt very insulted by the poor media showing of the American ambassador. From them, we were able to garner some important facts regarding Mr. Carter III’s role in the current crisis in Côte d’Ivoire.
What had really happened?
On the night of Wednesday December 1, 2010, Youssouf Bakayoko spoke on Channel 1 of the Ivorian National TV. He reassured the Ivorian people that he would proclaim the provisional results by the constitutional deadline of midnight. When a journalist asked him what would happen if by midnight he did not proclaim the results, Mr. Bakayoko’s reply was that it was “not midnight yet.”
Of course, midnight passed without Mr. Bakayoko proclaiming the provisional results; by which time the IEC was constitutionally foreclosed. Curiously, around 01:00 am, some diplomats were informed that Bakayoko was in conclave in his office at the IEC with the ambassadors of France and the United States. Those diplomats who went to Bakayoko’s office to inquire about this atypical meeting witnessed an even more disturbing exchange.
Bakayoko: “We have been able to consolidate the results from about 15 regions. No consensus has been reached yet regarding the remaining 4 regions. We are already Thursday. At 9:00 pm yesterday, we had agreed to make a declaration to the press in the presence of all the commissioners of the IEC.”
The diplomats: “Who is winning in the regions whose results have already been consolidated?”
Bakayoko: “Incumbent President Gbagbo is.”
Mr. Bakayoko’s words visibly disturbed Mr. Carter III.
As explained by the African diplomats, “Mr. Carter III awoke Alassane Ouattara at the Golf Hotel at 2:00 am and asked him how he could be in bed at such a crucial time. We found Mr. Carter’s ways unacceptable, but we said nothing. We left Mr. Bakayoko’s office, as he promised to make a televised declaration at 9:00 am.” The rest is no secret to anyone. Bakayoko was no longer to be seen at the HQ of the IEC. He was kidnapped and taken to the Golf Hotel, Ouattara’s HQ, by the ambassadors of France and the US, certainly to concoct some fallacious results.
At 4:00 pm, on Thursday December 2, while some journalists and the other members of the IEC were waiting for him at the HQ of the IEC, Youssouf Bakayoko was in front of the cameras of France 24, at the Golf Hotel, announcing his illegal results.
But that’s not all!
President Thabo Mbeki, whom the president of the African Union Commission charged with an exploratory mission in Côte d’Ivoire went through all sort of trouble to meet with Mr. Bakayoko. First, Ouattara and Young Jin Choi told him that they did not know about the whereabouts of Bakayoko. Toward the end of his mission, President Mbeki got a phone call from Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, the UN secretary general, asking him to consult with Bakayoko for the official narrative of the events. “I would like to,” replied President Mbeki, “the snag is that here in Abidjan, no one seems to know where Mr. Bakayoko is.” Ban Ki-Moon then promised President Mbeki that he would instruct Choi to “take care of the matter.” A little later, President Mbeki gets four successive telephone calls from Choi:
1.“I think that the French ambassador can help us”
2.“According to the French ambassador, it is the American ambassador that can disentangle the matter.”
3.“According to the American Ambassador, Soro Guillaume can organize the meeting”
4.“Mr. President, Soro has confirmed that Bakayoko is ready to meet with you at the Golf Hotel”
It is finally at the Golf Hotel, at the HQ of Ouattara, that the meeting between President Mbeki and Youssouf Bakayoko took place. Our sources tell us that in his report to the African Union, President Thabo Mbeki has express deep concern for the peculiarity of Bakayoko’s sequestration by the ambassadors of France and the United States since the infamous night of Thursday December 2, 2010. Carter III is hard-pressed to wiggle his way out of his responsibility in the post-electoral crisis in Côte d’Ivoire. His defense sounds more immature than diplomatic.
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