Ouattara as a French-IMF Stooge: Understanding the Vile French Machinations in Africa By Larry Eyong Echaw. Part III

Who is Ouattara’s Master?

When did democracy become such an indispensible sine qua non for France in Africa; when Houphouet-Boigny was President of Ivory Coast for 33 years; Eyadema (the mastermind of the first coup d’état in Africa) ruled for a generation and handed over power to his son;  Albert-Bernard Bongo, was President of Gabon for 40 years, before handing over to his son; Paul Biya of Cameroon has been president for 28 years and is poised to win elections again in 2011,and perhaps handover to his son?.

Former President Jacques Chirac of France, had said, that democracy is a luxury that Africans cannot afford- that it is better for them to aspire to portable water and food, rather than the pie-in-the sky, that democracy is, according to his racist mindset. 

Is it surprising that Ouattara and Bedie signed the pact to oust Gbagbo in Paris? The so called “Rally of Houphouetists for Democracy and Peace” was virtually a French creation. (Equally ironic, is the presence of the name –Houphouet - and democracy in the same sentence, when Houphouet’s iron rule in Ivory Coast, is the very antithesis of democracy).

The pact between Bedie and Ouattara, has turned out to be the devilish pact that would destroy Ivory Coast, as one observer had predicted in 2005, when it was formed.

 

It is not surprising that all the flotillas of the West are converging off the Ivory Coast, to install an American trained economist and career employee of the IMF, as President of one of the richest countries of West Africa. (Never mind that his birth certificate, issued in September 1999 –for someone born in 1942-was annulled by the courts as fraudulent. Well, most Ivoirians are convinced that the patriotism of one who voluntarily renounced his Ivorian citizenship at High school, and assumed the citizenship of the country where his parents were born parents, must be suspect).  

Ouattara who had exercised presidential functions for nearly two years, while the Late Houphouet was in a Parisian hospital, seems to have enjoyed the accoutrements of the office, and is determined to reclaim it, by hook or by crook. When President Bedie opened an investigation on the authenticity of his citizenship, Bedie was overthrown by Northern officers in the military, who did not hide their admiration for the messianic Ouattara (popularly referred to as ADO). Ouattara hailed the ouster as “not a coup d’état, but “a revolution supported by all the Ivorian People” [1]

He later embraced the rebel –New Forces- who staged a failed coup against Gbagbo, in 2002, although he had originally distanced himself from them. Yet, since most of the rebels are of his Diawala tribe (Diola-French transliteration) which lies astride the Ivory Coast/Burkina Faso border, it was clear to most observers, that the rebels were out to implement Ouattarra's vow to accede to the presidency of Ivory Coast at all cost.

Guillaume Soro who launched the rebellion against Laurent Gbago in 2002 has said force is the only means to oust Gbagbo. The link between the abortive coup and the electoral "tour-de-force" in the rebel held north is now clear: ADO had to win or else, the election is not free and fair. Yet, the United Nations is still to publish the report of the conduct of the elections in the rebel-held north of the country, for the court of world opinion to review and compare with the facts on the ground.

Ban Ki-Moon who is an international administrator, does not have the legal authority to unilaterally endorse the results of presidential elections in a sovereign nation. His actions are in contravention of Article 100 of the UN charter which imposes a duty of impartiality to the Secretary General. So, after the ouster of Gbagbo, will those who live by the sword live or die by the sword?

The West will be making a mockery of its international criminal court, if it can only try Third World leaders, for war crimes, when Cheney and Rumsfeld walk free from their Iraqi atrocities.

 

Yet, objective international observers have noted the fact that in 2002, rebels trained in the military bases of Burkina Faso, with ethic affiliations to nationals of that country, crossed an international border, and attacked the democratically elected government of Laurent Gbagbo. 

Those rebels led by Guillaume Soro have made it clear that their power grab was justified by the xenophobic policy of "Ivoirité" (Being Ivorian) that Bedie -the handpicked spiritual son of Houpouet, introduced in a bid to exclude Ouattara from the Ivorian Presidency, the accession to which has become the culmination of his life's ambition. (For super-empowered Africans like Ouattara, with stellar educational credentials, to make up for the frustration of not being able to head the World Bank- which is the statutory preserve of the Americans, or the IMF- reserved for the Europeans, the next best thing for Africans, after a stint at these institutions, is the Presidency of their countries.

In fact, they are trained as the local enforcers of the "Washington Consensus" in their respective countries). Never mind that these policies have produced only malnourished babies with bloated stomachs, which are the perpetual shame of the failure of African nation-states; hoards of economic refugees crossing the Sahara in a life-and-death quest for greener pastures, or the Swiss bank accounts of African dictators who boost the economies of the West.  As events unfold, the world will find out whether Ouattara’s allegiance is with Burkina Faso, the Americans who trained him, the IMF which gave him a career and an ideology, or Ivory Coast where half the population believes, he is a foreign “Trojan Horse”.

 

But for Africans, the battle lines are now drawn. Those who side with France and its exploitative policies are using democracy as an alibi to oust an African nationalist, albeit who has his own shortcoming. The double standards of the enforcers of democracy in French Africa are now clear for even the blind to see. When then National Assembly of Ivory Coast is the property of a French real estate company, when 10 metres below the surface of Ivory Coast is owned by the French, it is not surprising that Gbagbo's defiant stance, inspires the admirers of Nkrumah, Lumumba and Ruben Um Nyobe.

Larry Eyong

 

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[1] [i] Ivory Coast coup a “popular revolution” BBC News Online, December 9, 1999.

Comments

[Jovita Nsoh]

Larry is talking with both sides of his mouth. I was reading African press coverage of the Ivorian crisis and I must say that it is appalling that Larry was the only electoral review that did not take a decisive position on that crisis. His paper attempted to blame both Quattara and Gbagbo at the same time. I hate such reporting. A media outlet should take a position. Stop sitting on the fence. Can you all imagine a scenario whereby the UN, in accordance with ceasefire provisions, certified a result and France went against it? We all would have cried foul!!! What I mean here is that France is siding with justice. I believe that if the Ivorian Electoral commission had said that Gbagbo won, France would have supported that decision. It was agreed upon in the 2002 ceasefire that part of the UN mandate in Ivory Coast was to monitor elections and "certify" the results. That provision was agreed upon at the time by Gbagbo and FN side. The UN did just that. France, US, AU, ECOWAS etc. recognize and accept that decision – which happens to be the decision of the Ivorian Electoral commission. Same way a team would accept the verdict of a referee. It really signifies a new beginning in Francophone African politics. No mafia-like deals to perpetuate dictatorships that enhance French interest. Also remember that Gbagbo actually already stole a full term through election postponements and other constitutional machinations. These elections were originally scheduled for 2005.

Also notice that Africans such as Botswana, Kenya, South Africa, ECOWAS and the AU are more vocal in their condemnations of Gbagbo than France. The first person to stand up and asked Gbagbo to go was Khama Ian Khama of Botswana, followed by Raila Odinga of Kenya. Are these people Western stooges? The only African country that has not officially (through AU vote) condemned Gbagbo is moribund Angola.

I also just don't understand why Larry totally ignores the decision by the Ivorian Independent Electoral Commission. Larry, as someone who has fought and is fighting for the Independence of the Southern Cameroon, would be expected to show a better moral and judicious basis for his conclusions. He has unfortunately stooped to petty conspiracy theories. He’s put his judgment into serious questioning.

Africans need to decide, once and for all to always take the side of justice regardless of where the chip falls. I think, as skeptical as we maybe about French motives, we need to give them some credit here. Contrary to the days of Mitterrand and Foccard, France has actually sided with the Africans on this one. It signifies a new beginning for Francophone Africa. We saw that in Tchad where Sarkozy refused to intervene in support of Idris Derby and we are seeing it in Ivory Coast.

[Ambembe]

Joe Vita, naive. There is only one context in which this could bring justice, and it will be only if Africans could hold France to the same standard in other places. If Paul Biya should die in 2011, you will see France back the succession by his son or some other kind of mess. Knowing you Africans, you will not hold France by the same standard. You would have forgotten entirely.

Mark my words, if France is supporting the IMF guy, it is because he has already sold out. This issue did not start today, and a lot of you Johny come latelies have already been taken in.

[Jovita]

@Ambembe:
I like facts, not prognostications and conspiracy theories. Your little piece is just one piece of speculations and conspiracy theories. Can you back anything you just wrote with facts? That's what this should be all about. Not about what may happen.

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Larry might be right in supporting Gbagbo stance against Western imperialism,but to consider Quattara a trojan force in his own country is like supporting the Francophone Cameroonians who claimed Fru Ndi was a Nigerian after the 1992 presidentials.Quattara is an Ivorian,Lets respect the polls and stop all these flimsy excuses.From Mugabe to Gbagbo who next...

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