2010 Elections in Cote D' Ivoire: What most media do not tell you

[Iniko Ujaama]

http://agendia.viviti.com/entries/africa/2010-elections-in-cote-d-ivoire-what-most-media-do-not-tell-you

2010 Elections in Cote D' Ivoire: What most media do not tell you By Aloysius AGENDIA

Early November 2010, Ivoirians went to the polls to elect a new president. After the first round of elections, no candidate could get the absolute majority needed to avoid a runoff. Incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo of LMP scored 38 percent of the votes while former Prime Minister Alasane Ouatara of PDR and former President Henri Konan Bedie got 32 and 25 percent respectively. The second round on November 28, 2010 pitted Ouatara against Gbagbo.  Konan Bedie urged his supporters to rally behind Ouatara. Analysts considered the call a marriage against nature because; it was the same Konan Bedie who made claims in the late 1990s and early 2000 that Ouatara was not an Ivoirian but actually a Burkinabe. That was the beginning of rivalry in Cote D Ivoire.  From that perspective, it is hard to say with certainty if the supporters of Bedie could actually vote for Ouatara or massively vote for someone whom for years they consider more of their enemy than Laurent Gbagbo.
After the November 28 runoff, the Independent Electoral Commission from a hotel hideout declared that Alasane Ouatara was winner of the elections with 54 percent of the votes as against 45 for Laurent Gbagbo. However, the victory was annulled moments later by the Constitutional Council of Cote D' Ivoire after it admitted claims and proofs from the Laurent Gbagbo camp that the elections were heavily flawed in the North which is controlled by New Forces rebels (they remain armed till date) said to be loyal to Alasane Ouatara.  More so, the elections result had not been declared within the stipulated time frame by law. There were also claims of fraud in the west,  Gbagbo's fief but it is not clear if a formal complain was deposited by the Ouatara camp.
That notwithstanding, in a twist  of events the United Nations and some countries like France, USA dismissed the  statement of the Constitutional Council of Cote D' Ivoire and  said in categorical terms that the results declared by the Electoral Commission were the right ones and valid and they would consider Alasane Ouatara as the president of Cote D' Ivoire.
The issue is that a lot of media organs in African have been relaying information from international press without knowing the ramifications of their actions.
 It becomes very dangerous  and troubling when media in Cameroon and most of Africa, get their news on elections in Cote D 'Ivoire only from CNN, France 24, rfi or sister media, most of who do analysis somtimes without knowing exactly what happened, or limiting their analysis to immediate actions without knowing what provoked the actions or again out rightly analysing without taking into consideration what the law of that country says with respect to what they are analysing.
As far as the November presidential elections in Cote D Ivoire are concerned, you may want to read this article culled from this newspaper http://www.notrevoie.com/Home.asp.  Or http://www.notrevoie.com/a_la_une.asp?id=37453  or read the whole edition  of Notre Voie No 3747 of December 03, 2010.
 
You may also want to read a pro- Alasane Ouatara paper like Nouveau Reveil Issue No 2687 of December 03, 2010 on website address http://www.lenouveaureveil.com/.  That is why I decided to read these two newspapers which are diametrically opposed, in order to make an informed opinion of the real situation in Cote D' Ivoire.
After having done that, please relief yourself from the psychological warfare.  The media, especially so called international bodies, international media and colonial troops stationed in Cote D' Ivoire must stop causing confusion and sowing disunity among people.

WHAT THE INTERNATIONAL MEDIA IS REFUSING TO ALSO STRESS OR MENTION:

- The report sheet of the majority of members of the Electoral Commission in the north of the country admitted that the elections were highly flawed in that area.

- They also refused to mention that results were cancelled in virtually all of France where Gbagbo's party had a resounding majority. Yet, the president of the EC paid a blind eye on what happened in the north since he knew certain international media and countries will back his action.

- The international media is mentioning that the President of the Constitutional Council is pro Gbagbo but fails to admit that the President of the Electoral Commission as well as its Permanent Secretary and Spokesman are all pro Ouatara. What an unnecessary hype.

- The international media focuses on the tearing of results sheet  by a pro'-Gbagbo member of the EC. without investigating what provoked such actions. The action of the EC member was uncivil though.

- The international media fails to emphasize that the election results had not been harmonised before the spokesman rushing to make inflammatory declarations.

- The international media fails to equally reiterate that the results were released in a hotel hide out rather than from the Electoral Commission’s office and without other members of the Electoral Commission. They also fail to mention that this hotel was candidate Alasane Ouatara's base.

- The international media fails to mention that in several areas in the North, Ouatara is said to have had more votes than all of the registered voters in the polling centres concerned. That can only happen in Cameroon under Paul Biya.
- The international media fails to mention that it is this same Alasane Ouatara who has been acused of being  behind the rebellion in Cote D Ivoire that killed several people. The rebellion then divided the country into two there by creating a country (North of Ivory Coast) within a country , that is Ivory Coast itselt. Ouatara has always refused this acusation though. However this video of one of the rebel commanders who Ouatara is said to have trained and sponsored is clear testimony..

-The international media has carefully avoided what other election observers like the AU and other independent monitors said about the elections. They prefer to hinge on what EU, French and UN team are claiming.
The international media with the exception of BBC failed to relay or analyse an ultimatum given by French President and Foreign Minister to the EC of Cote Ivoire. It read “the election results MUST be published today” that was Wednesday December 01, 2010. Who are they to give ultimatums to a sovereign nation and what was the reason behind such an irritating statement?
-The international community represented by some powerful capitalists and imperialist bodies, think they can use the so called International Tribunal at The Hague to threaten nationalist African leaders. The headline of Le Nouveau Reveil   of December 03, 201, a pro Ouatara newspaper even confirms this.

And finally, the whistleblower Wikileaks in one of its cables revealed that Nicholas Sarkhozy is France’s closest American ally of all past French presidents since WWII. And you may not know the reason behind this. This is simply because Sarkhozy needs the support of USA and allies in consolidating his grip on Africa and he wants to retake or re-colonised Africa and the rights Africans were beginning to take after some of us gained consciousness.  It is because of such backing that his country will mete out the most inhuman treatment on Africans in France, yet no nation/ international media would bother to talk about, less of making it a hype. Where is the RUPTURE he promised?

Please do not fall prey to the media psychological warfare. I know many of you are defeated already.

Let all colonial and neo-colonial troops leave Cote D ‘Ivoire and the same apply to all of Africa. That country can solve its problem without confusion being orchestrated by international troops and bodies there. Without people coming in the name of peace mission, maintaining their interest yet eventually ending up arming militias and rebels and intoxicating villagers.

Finally, if elections were rigged in the north of Cote D’ Ivoire an area controlled by rebels and said to be loyal to Ouatara, then such elections must be cancelled. If not, Gbagbo should accept defeat, leave honourably and begin preparing for next elections.

France succeeded in Gabon with 'Omar Bongo Ondimba Ali Ben' after France-Afrique emperor Omar Bongo Ondimba I died. I pray and hope they do not succeed in Cote D' Ivoire again. Renaissance is needed. Cameroon may likely take the stage in 2011. We want to do our things in peace. Whatever will happen in Cameroon we do not need French or UN troops.

[Iniko Ujaama]

http://www.abidjantalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21558

AFROCENTRICITY INTERNATIONAL CALLS FOR CESSATION OF INTERVENTIONIST ACTIONS IN IVORY COAST


  The situation in Ivory Coast demands our immediate attention as representatives of the African world. The time has long come for us to speak out against the machinations of the French and American governments in the affairs of the African continent. Clearly the interests of the French and the Americans are not the interests of the people of Ivory Coast and all claims of moral uprightness made by Western interests must be questioned. We realize that their interests, if history is our guide, are for material advantage, minerals, political puppets, and strategic positions for global control.
 
This means that there are so many Europeans and Americans vying for the right to take the spoils of this African country into their own bosom that the African people are without protection. We are their protection as they will always be our protection. Our position has always been critical location of all actions, proposals, and attitudes against the masses of African people, whether they come from the United Nations, ECOWAS, or the French government. The lessons of Haiti are quite clear and we have not yet digested the numerous ways the West subverted the democratically elected Jean-Bertrand Aristide in Haiti.
 
Afrocentricity International calls for Africans everywhere to write letters, protest in demonstrations, seek political intervention, and appeal to the United Nations to cease and desist in supporting the undermining of the country. In addition, we believe that the governments of the United States and France should keep their hands off the Ivory Coast. The strategy of divide-and-conquer must not be allowed to succeed in this case.
 
The United Nations observer, on the day after the election, announced that Alassane Ouattara had won without having read the reports about violence and abuse in the northern part of the country. The Supreme Court of Ivory Coast investigated the situation and said there was fraud in the north and therefore the voting in the north was challenged. Given all the evidence of abuse and manipulation in the north, the Supreme Court of Ivory Coast made the decision that Laurent Gbagbo was the winner.
 
 President Gbagbo has renounced violence and asked Mr. Ouattara to come to the table for dialogue about the future of the nation given the fact that whatever the facts that will be revealed each one of these leaders carried a significant part of the electorate. Afrocentricity International believes that the talk of “genocide” is premature and probably racist. No one claimed that there would be “genocide” during the American presidency crisis that brought Mr. Bush to the office during his first term. Why would any credible person raise the ethnic genocide argument so quickly if it is not to create a pretext invade Ivory Coast?
 
 The reason that Mr. Gbagbo remains in power and should remain in power is because the Supreme Court of the land has declared that there were abuses, fraud, and intimidations in the northern part of the country. The United Nations’ observers did not take these reports into consideration before declaring a Alassane Ouattara the winner. In any nation this would be considered arrogant and manipulative. Rather than allowing the legitimate processes of justice to work out in Ivory Coast the international interventionists jumped to a conclusion that Mr. Gbagbo did not win.
 
Afrocentricity International believes that the political interests of the West are driving the contentious situation in Ivory Coast. We know that the French and American governments cannot simply bestow winners; the political office in a democratic state must be won legitimately.  Political winners are not knighted by any outside body; their people elect them and when there are disputes they must be settled by the institutions in the country. This is what was done in the United States in the case of Bush v. Gore when people believed that there were compelling national reasons for the Supreme Court to act. Some even claimed, as was their right to claim, that the court was partisan in its support of the Republican candidate. The United States Supreme Court made the decision to rule in favor of George Bush; someone could have said that the Court was packed with the supporters of the Republicans and therefore we should not have accepted the decision of the court in favor of George Bush. In the end, however, the prestige of the Court was on the line as was the idea of democracy. Why should those principles not adhere in the case of an African country?
 
The international community must look to the Supreme Court of Ivory Coast as the final arbiter. Afrocentricity International believes that it is in the best interest of the African people that all evidence presented by the Supreme Court be examined before any declaration is made by any outside body. The evidence must be examined before any outside interest can declare a winner. Perhaps the suggestion that former President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa intercedes is a good one if he begins with the issue of law in Ivory Coast.  The real culprits in this situation are the interventionists who are trying to unseat Mr. Gbagbo probably because of his strong Afrocentric, Pan African stand in the interest of Africa. Afrocentricity International protests against any intervention that would subvert the legitimate role of the country’s own Supreme Court.
 
 The independent electoral commission pronounced Mr. Ouattara the winner without considering the reports of the Supreme Court. This is what threw the election into a crisis. It was reported that the electoral commission would not allow the European Union observers to visit polling places in the north of the country. This same independent electoral commission went ahead and declared a winner and the United Nations’ observer agreed with it without looking at the protests against the fraudulent situations in the north. One region reported votes totally more than the registered voters, for instance, l59,788 votes from a list of 48, 400 registered voters. And this is just one situation where the Gbagbo administration believes the votes in the north were manipulated to steal the election.
 
Afrocentricity International calls for a peaceful conclusion to this situation and agrees with former President Jerry Rawlings of Ghana that the two contenders have indicated their willingness to see a recount or further verification by neutral observers. What we must do at all costs is to avoid violent interventionism by French or American troops. We already know that rebels from the north have infiltrated the south with weapons.
 
 
 
Afrocentricity International
Dr. Ama Mazama, Per-aa
Dr. Molefi Kete Asante, International Representative
P. O. Box 30004
Elkins Park, Pa. 19027
MKASANTE@GMAIL.COM

[Iniko Ujaama]

A useful comparison between with the views expressed above by Ama Mazama and Molefi Asante are those of Horace Campbell on Democracynow.org

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/12/27/horace_campbell_on_ivory_coast_crisis

[thezenhaitian]

Thank you so much for your thoughtful post and the post with the statement from Afrocentricity International that follows it.

I just have one question. You say:

- The international media fails to mention that it is this same Alasane Ouatara who has been acused of being  behind the rebellion in Cote D Ivoire that killed several people. The rebellion then divided the country into two there by creating a country (North of Ivory Coast) within a country , that is Ivory Coast itselt. Ouatara has always refused this acusation though. However this video of one of the rebel commanders who Ouatara is said to have trained and sponsored is clear testimony..

Can you post a link to the video you describe of the rebel commander making the statements about Ouattara?


"You may write me down in history with your bitter, twisted lies. You may trod me in the very dirt, but still, like dust, I'll rise."  -- Maya Angelou
http://www.thehaitianblogger.com

[Iniko Ujaama]

Pourquoi voter pour la Cote d'Ivoire