Guest Blog: Côte d'Ivoire Elections from the Eyes of an Expat

For the past few months I've been living/working at a boarding school in Duekoue, Cote d'Ivoire, also known as the country with 2 presidents. I arrived at the beginning of October, thinking I would get there just in time for the beginning of the school year. However I soon found out that many things would start 'after the elections'. There were girls who were waiting to come to the boarding school until after the elections and at the technical school where I teach English there were many students absent. We had a few normal weeks where almost all the students were there, but in the past 2 and half months we've missed 3 entire weeks of school along with a few days here and there.

Now after the second round of elections things have really come to a standstill. People are scared and there are more rumours than you can count. It doesn't help that the state-run TV channel is constantly spitting out pro-Gbagbo (the incumbent) propaganda while the other news channels have been cut off. The way the government uses the media has been one of the most interesting things for me to see. For example one night after some UN-bashing by the state-run news channel, they explained that they would now be showing Hotel Rwanda. Then they showed a few clips and every clip they chose portrayed the UN in a negative way- like that the UN did nothing to stop the genocide there and even made it worse. Then today on a state-run radio station they claimed that ONUCI-FM (the UNs radio station) inciting people against Gbagbo was the equivalent of the way Milles Collines radio in Rwanda encouraged one ethnic group to kill another. To me that comparison is a bit of a stretch.

For the people in Duekoue the situation is exhausting and stressful. Food prices have increased, the price of charcoal skyrocketed and at times was hard to find at all. The girls at the boarding school don't exactly have a lot of cash to throw around so it has been really hard on them. When I ask them what they think about the presidents they say, 'I don't care who it is as long as theres not war' or 'I just want a president'. The siuation makes me really upset and I'm not even from here, so I can only imagine how I would feel if this was my country.

I left Duekoue yesterday for Abidjan because I'm supposed to fly home on Saturday. The timing is really not ideal because apparantly the new government is going to move in to the government's offices tomorrow or Friday, but it's not clear how that will happen because the army loyal to Gbagbo is currently protecting it. However Outtara (the newly elected president) has the support of the UN and the former rebels. Here in Abidjan everyone is saying that it just can't go on like this. It's too tense, the people are tired and something is going to crack. Yesterday I walked around for just a few minutes and my feet were black from the dust from the tires they burnt to protest Gbagbo's 'victory'. That will probably be the last time I go out until my flight on Saturday because the nuns I'm staying with say that as a white person it's just not a good idea to go out. So I'm hunkered down, just waiting for Saturday and hoping that between now and then things don't get too hot.


Anne Koch-notedivoire.blogspot.com

Ivory Coast Election Crises Stifles Cocoa Exporting

Ivory Coast continues to struggle as incumbent president Luarent Gbagbo refuses to step down to rival Alassane Ouattara, even though it is becoming increasingly clear that Ouattara was the victor in the country’s recent election.  Gbagbo refuses to step down, and has gone so far as to declare himself the winner of the election.  This is causing confusion in many areas of the government, as citizens, businesses, and politicians do not know who is in charge.  The conflict is also causing violence, as Gbagbo’s supporters in the South face off against the northern rebels who support Ouattara.

As our blogger @StanaCardSara began to point out last Friday, the unrest in the country has begun to affect the exporting of cocoa, Ivory Coast’s most important export.  Today alone, tens of thousands of tons of cocoa that was supposed to head to other world markets were held up.  So far this season, the entire cocoa trade market is fallen by 9 percent already because of the political unrest and things don’t look great for the future, as neither candidate is likely to drop out of the race.  Even with the UN and ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) backing the fact that Ouattara has been the new leader of the country, Gbagbo refuses to believe it, and is holding strong in the presidential palace, making claims of vote-rigging in the north. 

The cocoa exporters are so affected by this crisis because, as one worker put it, they simply don’t know who to listen to.  “We are working with fear in our belly. We do not know who is really legitimate in this situation -- we don't even know who should be signing the export papers.  If we start working with one team and there is a change at the helm, we don't know if we will face reprisals.”

We hope that this situation gets resolved soon to put a stop to the violence between the north and south, and that Ivory Coast can continue to export cocoa, its best product, at the same levels it has been in the past.  For any of you out there with family and friends in the Ivory Coast, now would be a great time to get in touch, and with our low rates of only 17.9 cents per minute, it has never been cheaper or easier.  

By @StanaMark - follow me on Twitter!

Ivory Coast Election Results

Ivory Coast, what’s going on?  As of yesterday, their borders have been closed.  According to CNN, Col. Major Babri Gohourou said that the air, sea, and land borders had been shut down until further notice and it was to quell the tensions of the area because the election results were unclear. 

The radio and television broadcasting stations have also been ordered to be suspended.

The Ivory Coast, or the Côte d'Ivoire announced former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara as the winner against incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo on Thursday.  This was after the deadline on Wednesday, which is perhaps part of the issue.  Today, it was announced that the poll was overturned and Gbagbo was indeed the winner.

According to Reuters, “The U.N. Security Council warned Ivory Coast that it was prepared to take "appropriate measures," a diplomatic codeword for sanctions, against anyone thwarting the electoral process.

The vote, delayed for five years, was meant to reunite the top cocoa grower, split in two by a 2002-2003 civil war, but has instead exposed north-south divisions and sparked violence. Fears of unrest pushed cocoa prices up over four percent in Thursday trade. Many Ivorian exporters have suspended business.”

As I’ve mentioned before, cocoa is on its way to being very rare and very pricey.  This certainly isn’t helping.

While the media is shut down over there, we are hoping that phone lines are not.  If you need to call family or friends to check on them, please note our low rate of 17.9 cents per minute.   Stay safe, Ivory Coast.

- @StanaCardSara