Liberia: a virginity that was De-flowered

Many national airports around the world bear the name of political heroes; modern founders of nations and martyrs normally of liberation struggle. It would have been surprising if the Abidjan airport were to be indifferent to Felix Houphouet-Boigny. In his grave he may also be happy as some of his compatriots may feel saver for just behind the airport is the imperial presence of France- a military base by the re-assuring name: Armed Elements of the Impartial Forces.

This visit to the country in October 2010 was important. Former US President, Jimmy Carter had asked Kufuor to co-chair the impending elections with him and his Carter Centre. At 86, and since serving only a term as President, it has been amazing how he has been able to turn what looked a failure in the eyes of many ( the American hostages in Iran in particular )to global recognization at the frontiers of development. He had through the Carter Centre which he established with his wife Rosalynn in 1982 positively touched the lives of millions around 65 countries in the areas of peace-building and conflict resolution, health-care, democracy, human rights and economic opportunity. When he was awarded the Noble Prize for Peace it far transcended his efforts in the Middle East crisis (the Camp David accords) when in power and universally very acknowledging.

Just close to the time of elections, he suddenly took ill so Kufuor would do that with his Vice President for Peace Programmes, Dr. John Stremlau.

The Golf Hotel where we lodged was also where other international observers and journalists were. The extra security assurance was the presence of the UN peace- keepers who have for some years camped here. Kufuor and his Carter friends would have to meet separately the protagonists of this political drama. Prime Minister Soro had decided that he would come over instead of Kufuor doing so. He did with a small group of government officials and security. At 39, the aura of power had made him look larger than his age. He would not let Kufuor get up to greet or welcome him. He considers him like a father. In fact Kufuor had told him during the negotiations to end the civil war in Accra that at 29 he was still young and should bid his time since the future looked good for him. He should also be flexible and let loose the northern part of the country which was under his and the rebels control. He burst into laughter and in English diluted in the comfort of French began. “I remember and will never forget what you told me years ago in Accra. The elections tomorrow are the result of your previous work.” As Kufuor thanked him for his remarks, Soro recognized Kwaku Addo , Kufuor’s driver in Accra who was with him and again a huge laugh. Kwaku had been Soro’s guide in the many night outings in Accra during the peace talks. He might have really liked him. When Kufuor said, “Now you are growing and in responsible leadership” the laughter was chorus as everybody guessed what it could mean.

If Soro had not been 39 at this time, he could probably be standing as a presidential candidate against his 65 year old former university professor, Gbagbo. He had initiated him into the ways and by-ways of socialist thoughts and thinking and some urging towards student agitation. Now teacher and student have the country upon their destiny.

I first met Alassane Quattara at his IMF office in 1997.We were a group of 12 international journalists touring the United States. Everyone of us remembered how in spite of his heavy schedule he has hosted us for lunch and took us through the workings of the Fund and his role as its deputy director. I have since wondered why he would leave that lucrative office for the uncertainties of politics. Public service should be the motive otherwise he should be rich or at least, his Jewish wife of grand standing and influence.

The uncertainties of politics led to his house been destroyed when the rebels got so close to his own destruction. He had to seek refuge at the French embassy here. It may explain why his current one is so fortified. That he is full of grace shows in the interior of this beautiful house. He welcomed Kufuor to the huge sitting room overlooking a swimming pool and garden. His advisors and communication director for the campaign looked completely exhausted. But they were hopeful for the next day’s ballot.

“Campaign was peaceful in all 19 regions.” He said. The problem had been with the chair of the Independent Electoral Commission who had arbitrarily decided, without the knowledge of other commissioners, to award a contract of $10 million for electoral materials to people who worked for a government ministry and connected to government. But, I never had any serious obstacles in my campaign. I realized people want peace. We have gone over the initial doubt. I am confident the elections will be peaceful.” He said visibly calmed but with some confidence added, “Recognization of the results is the real text. We will accept if free of any manipulation.”

Credited by many independent observers as having the best organized structures for his Rally of the Republicans Party (not surprising of a technocrat of his standing), the militant elements within are also the worst and deadly if confronted.

The importance of this election was the fact that it would be the first truly competitive one in the 50 year history of the country and comes at the cost of $412million. A lot of this was coming from the donor European community.

Seeing Henri Konan Bedie, the controller of the Democratic Party of Cote d’ Ivoire, the oldest party founded by Houphouet-Boigny come out of his living room to welcome Kufuor was a remembrance of the negotiation time of the past. He has dyed his hair- to perhaps look younger than his 76 years of age. But without even that he did not look his age compared to his competitors who have left theirs to grow grey. Smaller than his name projects, Houphouet –Boigny’s immediate successor told us, “my party is strong. We have had some reservations about the electoral process though. I also know that an election is never won in advance.”

We would not be able to see the incumbent, Gbagbo until we got confirmation he would be able to on October 31- election day. Obviously an odd time to see a sitting president hoping to extent his tenure beyond a ten year period. The surprise was when he agreed to do that. Kufuor has had countless meetings with him at this state house. The house was full of security people, his campaign team officials of the Ivorian Popular Front running around the background receiving calls from polling stations across the country. The polls had closed some two hours before. As we sat at the first living room where he would normally welcome his VIPs and then take them to a bigger one, we heard the shout of “Big John” . We all stood up for his presence. He shook hands with everybody but looked a bit agitated. Gbagbo’s joviality had not deserted him at this hour . Perhaps he had a feeling where the results were going. He was the front-runner and perhaps expected that the margin would widen in his favor even at this early stage. When Kufuor introduced the Carter Centre group to him, he expressed appreciation but with a sense of humour told everybody, “You know, I have never visited Atlanta. My daughter studied there and now works at our embassy in Washington, DC but never been there.” When John Stremlau also a professor at Emory University extended an invitation for him to come over to give a public lecture some day he accepted. But when and as what?

We will have to leave shortly as a courtesy for his seeing us at a moment like that. But he had extended an invitation for dinner the day after quite oblivious of what the stakes in terms of election results could be.

But looking at their tiring bodies it was obvious that these three, Gbagbo, Quattara and Bedie were in the twilight of their dominance of the politics of the last 15 years. At 65, 68 and 76 respectively, they were not looking younger and whoever wins shuts the ambition of the others for the future.

Election day in Abidjan was extremely quiet. With virtually no vehicular movement, the boarders to the neighbouring countries had been closed and the airport security tightened. Quenes started forming by 5pm for 7pm voting. Normal with voting in many developing countries, there were late start in places by 2 to 4 hours because papers and electoral officers were late or had not been given the final go-ahead on time. The government last minute decision not to block the use of SMS on the day under the pretext that it could be used to disseminate misinformation and violence was wise. This peace was however bore out of what the people had seen before- violence and death in civil war. It could be, as everybody also knew that, it was a calm larvae waiting for a peg powder to cause havoc.

We sat through to the counting of votes after the 5pm deadline. The party agents of especially the three leading contestants ( there were a total of 14 but the others were non-scorning getting zero results) were very vigilant ensuring their leaders marks were right. Quattara had trained 80,000 instead of 40,000 of these agents for the 20,000 polls nation-wide. The results from the polling stations were relayed into the constituency and then regions before final transmission to the Independent Electoral Commission. For months and years all these processes that on the day looked so simple and smooth had been carefully and aggressively been negotiated. Misunderstandings in the course of that had accounted for sporadic violence and postponement of the elections.

At the end of it all, it was generally agreed that Ivory Coast’s first competitive elections had been peaceful. With over 80 percent turn-out of the estimated 6 million people, it was also known as the results started coming in on the second day that, it was not conclusive. Neither of the three leading candidates could get the 50 percent votes. When it was finally announced, the results were as predicted by polls . The first three came to expectation. Gbagbo made 38 percent followed by Quattara with 32 and Bedie with 25 .

By any failing to make the 50 percent mark, a run-off between Gbagbo and Quattara was fixed for November 28.

How the world can change!! In 2003 Ali A. Mazuri in a foreword to my book, Between Faith and History: A Biography of J.A. Kufuor wrote of fortunes of countries. “ More than thirty additional years have passed since then…..Ghana which has become a model of relative stability and which is emerging slowly as a beacon of prosperity.…. Cote d’Ivoire is struggling for a new equilibrium between domestic contending forces and a new balance between independent African assertiveness and a continuing special relationship with France. Perhaps the original wager of 1960 was too simplistic about the comparative causes of stability and prosperity in African countries. The heroic country of yesterday can become the pathetic country of today-and vice versa. The reasons are much more complex than such issues as which country is neo-colonialist and which one chooses a command economy.” ¹²

The reasons could really be complex. The stability in the Ivory Coast though an uncultivated one and rather subtly imposed, Ghana was in turmoil during the Ivory Coast’s stability. From 1966, the country had experienced several coups the most dangerous in 1981 when Jerry John Rawlings launched his 31^st December Revolution. In the course of that three former military leaders were killed at the stakes; three Supreme Court Judges and a retired army officer were murdered by elements within the Revolution; businesses relocated outside the country and a war against the already small middle class ensued with confiscation of property and assets mostly for no reason nor were people put on proper trial for alleged offences; there was virtual imposition of sanctions by donors not enthusiastic of this left-wing inspired revolution. It would be in 1992 when after economic decline and later major re-structuring of the economy that the country would have its first controversial elections with again Rawlings in control.

The stability from 1981 to 1991 had been brutally imposed amidst counter-coup attempts and imposition of curfews. From 1992 when it adopted the new Constitution the country has not looked back and changed governments successfully through the ballot box. It has given space for economic planning which by the mid 2000s could grow at 7.2 percent when Ivory Coast was doing under 4 percent. The heroic country of yesterday can truly become the pathetic country of today. The issues are indeed complex but leadership defines everything in a fast changing world.

Many people had predicted right- if Gbagbo or Quattara won there would be a stalemate. But I had wondered why that should be so if the re-run was decent. It could then be that the protagonist of the re-newed stalemate is a vallian of the democratic order. It became Gbagbo after December 2.

Expectations had been that by December 1 the Independent Electoral Commission would declare the winner. Kufuor could not make it to Abidjan . He was chairing the annual board meeting of Interpeace in Geneva. He had however issued a statement to the international media as co-chair of the Carter Centre entreating the contestants to a peaceful re-run and acceptance of the popular will. By late evening, that was not the case. Voting had again been smooth amidst high tensions with few isolated cases of disorders. There were media reports that Quattara was in the led. The Carter Centre’s own projections when we made contact from Geneva confirmed this. Around 8pm on the day, a frantic call from Abidjan originally to Kufuor in Accra got him in Geneva . When Kufuor confirmed his identity over the phone, he was asked to hold on and then came the voice of Quattara. He had according to their camp’s estimation won the elections by 54% of the votes slightly lower then the Commission’s verdict. He had been given the Commission’s results. Gbagbo’s party had also been given as well as the UN. His concern however was that Gbagbo from their intelligence was reluctant to accept which was not surprising. His call was for Kufuor to assure Gbagbo on his behalf of a cordial political relationship and full protection as a former President. And on a lighter note to invite Kufuor to his inauguration as he had done so much for the unite of the country as reflected in the confidence that the contestants had had in him all along.

To do the right diplomatic thing, Kufuor called Gbagbo minutes afterwards to listen to what he had to say. Interestingly, the elections according to him was still inconclusive and that as he was talking to Kufuor he was having an emergency meeting with his party. Obviously they had issues, especially in northern Ivory Coast to review - an area that seems to have given Quattara the needed votes. Kufuor made another call to Soro, the Prime Minister who had days earlier resigned his post and confirmed that indeed there were indications that Quattara had won the elections. The international media hours after would announce that Quattara had won though there was yet to be formal declaration by the Independent Electoral Commission. The behavior of the international media seems to have annoyed Gbagbo but the boldness of the Commission to announce the results at The Golf Hotel instead of at its office confirmed fears for their safety. When it eventually, before the international media in a press conference, decided to do so, there came the shock of one of its members, tearing the results paper before the world- its fraudulent, he asserted. The Commission would go ahead to declare and there the high drama started.

But the Commission’s formal declaration and the huge media reportage before and after placed Quattara in a favourable moral course. The same electoral agreement had also said the Constitutional Council must endorse the Commission’s result. When it did not and alleged that there were electoral frauds in many parts of the North and that it had annulled the results from those parts which meant that, Gbagbo then and not Quattara had won the elections, it came as a big shock to many people. Quattara had won with 400,000 votes but the Constitutional Council had cancelled results in many parts of the north to the tune of 600,000 votes.The UN which under the same electoral agreement was the final certifier of the results declared Quattara the winner. Like the Electoral Commission and the UN, many –and they run into thousands, of the observer teams around the world had declared that though there had been some malpractices in the North as well as in the South and especially Gbagbo home region, they were however, not substantial to nullify the results. Before people could overcome the shock, Gbagbo was sworn in as President. Hours after he announced a cabinet. Quattara, without access to state apparatus but confined to The Golf Hotel under 800 (of the 10,000 UN troops) security protection was also sworn in as President with a cabinet list and with Soro as Prime Minister.

An election that was supposed to give the country a new leader had given more then it needed. Ivorians were tired of uncertainty but the 15 nation Economic Community of West Africa States of which Ivory Coast is a member was not only angry but brushed aside any negotiations let alone, indications from the Gbagbo side that it was prepared to share power with Quattara- a short fall of a moral rectitude which rather reinforced the resolution of ECOWAS leadership that met in Abuja , Nigeria under Goodluck Jonathan that Quattara and not Gbagbo was the declared winner of the election . Days after, the African Union would recognized Quattara as would France, the European Union and other multilateral institutions some of whom had already put sanctions in place. Gbagbo was been drawn by a sea of strong protest but still unmoved in the ancient faith of always surviving upsets to his authority and by this time perhaps, a divine right to continue his rule.

With this Quattara decided that his supporters march to take over the state owned TV station which was the propaganda arm of the Gbagbo government and which had blocked Ivorians views of the mounting international pressure against him. The violence that erupted from this attempt as his militia and the state army ensured that by the third week of uncertainty, over 200 people had lost their lives through mostly extra-judicial killings . When Gbagbo issued a media warning that all foreign troops-including the UN and observers should leave the country, he was still unaware of the extent to which his powers and legitimacy had eroded. The Security Council instead extended the troops mandate to six more months and stengethened its strategic presence to not only ensure peace but to defend itself and others against possible attacks.

To weaken his power further the World Bank decided to suspend all loans to Ivory Coast. Quattara also appealed to the Central Bank of West African States, based in Dakar which also serves as the central bank of Ivory Coast not to deal with the government. This appeal was heeded to after the governor of the Bank initially reluctant to do that had to resign. On Christmas eve-December 24 2010 the leadership of ECOWAS met and authorized their ministers of defence to map up a strategy that would if need be, use force to get Gbagbo out of power as it has not dawned on him that he was riding a dying horse; a strategy that had earlier been advocated by the Prime Minister of Kenya Ralia Odinga, apparently the winner of the 2007 elections but forced to share power as a way of restoring peace.

Now with virtually no international support, Gbagbo had to employ the services of an American lobbyist, Lanny Davis whose beat was to appear on the international media including the CNN defending his position. What annoyed people most was the fact that Davis who had previously advised President Clinton on crisis situations, was been paid $100,000 a month by a government whose legitimacy was under serious question.

The importance of Ivory Coast to the economies of some of the neigbours soon registered. The Ghana Cocoa Board which regulates the cocoa industry had in September 2010 said it would increase prices by 33% to $2,169 per ton compared to the $1,690 per ton paid by the Ivory Coast’s Cocoa and Coffee Exchange. ¹⁴ Farmers started smuggling cocoa to Ghana for better prices in the absence of checks at boarders an act which has always attracted sanction from the Ghana Cocoa Board as it prides itself as having the best premium with the beans from Ivory Coast only diluting its market value. About 75,000 to 100,000 tons of cocoa beans had been smuggled to Ghana since the 2010-2011 harvest season according to Bloombery relaying on the New York based Commodities Risk Analysis report by the third week of December 2010 ¹³. But Ghana had also lost 100,000 tons of beans to smuggling to the Ivory Coast during the 2009-2010 season at the cost of $300million.

Over 3,000 Ghanaian food-stuff traders and importers of especially staple rice, cassava and plantain which the Ivory Coast produced in abundance also feared the crisis would make trading and their livehood more difficult. Similar patterns were registered in Burkina Faso. About 20,000 of Ivorians had to fled to Liberia’s Nimba County by the third week to escape attacks from militia which according to the UN High Commission for Refugees had serious social and economic implication not only for the refugees but the slowly recovering economy of the country.

By the third week of January 2011 the world was still uncertain about the Ivory Coast. The EU had imposed forms of sanctions including travelling ban on Gbagbo, government officials with Switzerland confiscating assets of some of them . Some amount of diplomatic engagement including visits to the country by Mbeki, Obassanjo and the AU’s envoy- Prime Minister Ralia Odinga,were of little effect . Gbagbo’s wife Simone Hervet Gbagbo, a university professor had been the personal strategist of her husband. Inclined to the left, it had been she who all along had plotted this intransigent position some critics and insiders say. Author of a best-selling memoir, Parole D’Honneur, she looks ordinary and many including former Ghanaian Ambassador to the country, Kabral Blay Amihere, who is not too much fond of her as the husband, admits of her powers and influence in the politics of the country as a student agitator who had previously suffered political detention with the man she would later marry.¹⁴

The use of military force seems to be the option left. But the momentum for that was ruffled. As if to keep the wager aflame, the President of Ghana, Prof. Evans Atta Mills on the second week of January met Ghanaian and foreign journalists to review his Government’s performance in two years. Obviously, he expected a question on Ghana’s policy on the impasse in the Ivory Coast. Not that it was in dispute for Ghana been a member of ECOWAS was also the second largest troop contributor to its operations. Already 500 of them were in the Ivory Coast including some security guides to Quattara at The Golf Hotel. Mills had also signed into the heads of state communiqué in Nigeria to use force to remove Gbagbo from office if need be.

But his response to a question from a journalist in the media encounter was an unsettling one for many not least other leaders in the sub-region. He- as Commander in Chief of the Army and for that matter the country was against the use of force because that would not solve the problem in the country. Using force to counter a prevailing force had in history not always worked according to anticipation. The worry of Ghana was also understandable because it stood to suffer most (in trade , social crisis -refugees trek, destruction of facilities possibly its new oil installation in western Ghana) from repercussions of a failed external military intervention. The problem however seems to be breaking ranks with his colleagues- not having any discussions with them but with the media. It was fodder for the world broadcasting net-works which since the elections had focused daily on events in the Ivory Coast. The BBC World Service, VOA and others relayed this piece of news minutes after from Accra. The words from Mills were plain- in native Fante proverb, “Di Wo Fie Asem” which means, “Mind Your own Business.” It was not the responsibility of Ghana to decide who became the President of the Ivory Coast or mingled in the internal affairs of the country. This obviously became difficult to appreciate- for what then was the essence of joining multilateral organizations and signing on to military pacts? The Government’s spin doctors- of journalists on local FM stations and a few who travelled to Ivory Coast (in what some said was government sponsored trip)and had Gbagbo heaped praises on Prof. Mills did not help . The BBC Network Africa sarcastically used Mill’s words as “a wise saying for the day” and subjected him to criticisms through calls from its listeners; so was its, Africa Have Your Say.

As some international actors portrayed Ghana’s new policy as betrayal, Ralia Odinga came to Ghana and had audience with Prof. Mills to clarify Ghana’s policy on the situation. Ralia in a press conference told the local media that Ghana according to the government had not broken ranks and that she was still with ECOWAS and in agreement with all its decisions including the use of force. This left some spin doctors and Ghana’s own foreign Minister, Mohammed Mumuni (who had accused the BBC of unfairly representing Mills as “self-centered and inward looking”) in the cold. For they had defended why Ghana would not sanction the use of force. They even went to the extent of releasing minutes of a meeting of African Ambassadors accredited to the UN in New York questioning the effectiveness of a possible use of force, as basis of support for Mills’s position. Interestingly, these ambassadors did not intend this leakage since they represented not their own interests but those of their governments and that they were only supposed to defend the domestic policies of their governments which translated into foreign policy. How they could constitute themselves into an opposition to their governments is the story of lack of understanding of diplomatic practice by the Director of Mills Communication , Kwaku Anyidoho who boasted that it was not a leakage but a news release he circulated to the media.

To revert to a consensus position again, Mills on January 21 2011 told the diplomatic community in a new year reception that, “ Ghana is in full support of the declaration that Alassane Quattara is the elected President of Cote’d’Ivoire… additionally, the country is in agreement with all the sanctions imposed on Cote d’Ivoire in the aftermath of the disputed elections.”

That restored some sanity in foreign policy but it had dented the image of the Government as the head of ECOWAS, Ghebo (a strong defender of the use of force) until his taking up the position was the chief foreign affairs advisor to Mills and the more respected head before him- Mohammed Ibn Chambas had been vitriolic on Gbagbo’s refusal to leave office. Gbagbo (Chambas knew him well as he was very pivotal in the negotiations after the civil war) he said, was a disgrace to Africa.

But it was becoming clearer by January ending of 2011 when the African leaders met in Addis Ababa for the annual AU meeting that support for and against the protagonists was becoming ideological pushing the immediate cause of the stalemate to the background. It also showed that the AU secretariat through its Commissioner, Jeng Ping, was sometimes very fickle in appreciation of continental issues.

A leftist intellectual and Pan-African ideologue, Gbagbo had managed to equate the situation to French intervention in another’s internal affairs; that France still had colonial desires which was resisted by him as against the puppetry countenance of Quattara. This argument was sweet in the ears of some Pan Africanists. It had been pushed at the UN frontiers by the country’s ambassador there Koffi Charles (who was refused accreditation by the UN as Quattara’s representative was recognized ). The argument was even taken to higher power levels and appealed to France’s opponents sometimes. Thus, Russia was reluctant initially to endorse the Security Council’s extension of its troop stay in the country.

When at the end of their meeting, the AU set up a presidential commission to re-evaluate the impasse; it was a far cry from the ultimatum given Gbagbo that force was imminent. The Organization of African Unity would always be the African Union.

The composition of the Commission was worrying enough for many: Goodluck Jonathan, Ralia Odinga, Jacob Zuma and Robert Mugabe.

Goodluck was President of Nigeria and chairman of ECOWAS and had expressed Nigeria’s preparedness to lead force in the Ivory Coast and possibly contribute the biggest troops. Nigeria’s foreign policy was clear on the Ivory Coast even if as a regional force it had not set a moral example of how to conduct credible elections in the past. At least it was covered in this by the collective expression of the regional body.

Ralia Odinga, a victim of robbed elections in Kenya had to compromise on a position of Prime Minister in an election in 2007 in which he was internationally recognized to have won. From the start against Gbagbo’s claims, he has internationally supported his removal by force. Infact when the AU appointed him initially as its envoy to hold talk with the protagonists, the assumption was that his views were those of the AU. But again the AU had displayed some ineptitude by failing to negotiate properly with the Kenyan government for which Ralia was only a part. Some Kenyans saw this as more of a recognisation of a Prime Minister with limited powers (constitutionally) but been elevated in a global charged media interest in West Africa; a sort of an unconscious moral up-liftment.

Jacob Zuma’s militant, ideological and populist decorations in both domestic and foreign policies were all over him. Without the intellectual aroma to push these forward sometimes (having been watered down because of South Africa’s strong capitalist infrastructure which can easily overwhelm his capacity for untoward actions) many knew his heart was with Gbagbo. And not because of his acquired ideological position only but anyone who has read Jeremy Gordin’s 2011 edition of Zuma: A Biography finds unfortunately why Zuma, very viciously maligned (sometimes against his ethnic background which he was forced to publicly protest during his state visit to the Buckingham Palace) would entrench to anti- western positions. But he even had to by March 2010, change South Africa’s position to support Quattara and in conformity with the peace and Security Council Commission of AU.

Of course Robert Mugabe, passed 87, was the godfather of so-called anti-imperialism resurrection who uses hate speech, racial abuse, re-distribution of land against the English and the West to resuscitate the decline in his own once well – groomed economy; popularity and respect as a freedom fighter. Like Gbagbo of later times, he would accuse his Opposition figure Morgan Tsvangirai of been an imperialist stooge on the pay roll of British multi-national companies and governments.

But then the editorials of many of these western media could be reflective of what many of their colleagues in Africa thought as any sampling of these would show on the Ivory Coast. Gbagbo himself had flirted with the same French established order of doing things in Africa .

The New African magazine founded in London in 1966 struggled hard to no avail to prove that the election fiasco had much more to do with French imperial interest as in its 17 African former colonies and that this time it had met resistance by Gbagbo . In its February issue of 2011, it could only support Gbagbo’s position by using other comments by follow leftists-former and current African leaders like Angolan Jose Eduardo Dos Santos, Jerry John Rawlings of Ghana, and Museveni not to mention others.

Yet Rawlings had insisted from his revolutionary days in 1982 to his retirement in 2000 that he does not believe (like Museveni ) in multi-party democracy; he still preaches against the West. Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings is a strong woman like Mrs Gbagbo. They and their husbands share the same attitude to power. But they are not alone of their kind in Africa and the larger world. They more often substitute universal values of choice for leadership and other fundamental values as western and as imperial attempts to dictatorship among free people. Historical injustice of the past colonial and imperial ethos should guide Africa against repetition of exploitation of man against his fellow be it of parallel ethnic or racial notation for unjustifiable ends. But should it be used to subvert popular will of people?

The WEST, itself a construction undergoing cultural meaning and revision, may not be innocent. Africans, Caribbean, Middle Eastern societies and Asians have problems with them. Kishore Mahbubani, Dean and professor of Public Policy of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy has argued quiet admirably in his influential book, The New Asian Hemisphere- The Irresistible Shift of Global Power to the East, ¹⁵ that like western leaders, he is equally concerned that the world is becoming a more dangerous place. But he adds: “In trying to understand the sources of this danger, they (western leaders) assume that the problems are over there, not over here. Western editorials and commentaries seem to have an almost automatic assumption that the rest of the world is responsible for generating the problems, while the West is struggling to deliver the solutions.”

This certainly is also true and the best example comes again from their attitude in Africa and the Middle East through the speeches they gave from mid January to February 2011 (Arab Spring) when the uprisings started first in Tunisia, then Egypt, Skirmishes in Jordan and Yemen against decades old dictatorships . Not to talk of the genocide in Libya which led to the demise of Gaddafi and the eventual disintergration of the Syrian government as well.

No matter how irritable this maybe and sometimes they are very irritable, it does not mean that there should be an ideological FIXATION as counter-point by some with the Ivory Coast.

The end did come. High drama. Huge uncertainly even in the end and a lot of blood shed. By the first week of April 2011, the rebels had taken over 80% of the country with the regular army offering no resistence. The only protection for Gbagbo who had disappeared from public eyes was provided by the well-paid members of the elite presidential guard.When Quattara announced that the country’s land, sea and air boarders were closed, he was only exercising the powers of a commander in chief and the first major indication that he was in charge. Negotiations with the French embassy by Gbagbo’s camp were said to be through and that arrangements for exile were in place. This was later rejected by his camp osentibly on the insistence of Mrs Gbagbo wrongly this time believing in the magic of her strategies. Finally when massive bombardment by the UN , French and the rebels had done their worst in the presidential villa where they were, the president and wife like Saddam Hussein were found in a bunker at the presidential palace . The world witnessed the end of needless intransigence, the humiliation that befall such dramatis personae. Whether it was the professional French soldiers that found them and handed them over to the Ivorians to avoid accusation of neo-colonial intervention was irrelevant to many. But the images of a sovereign symbol arrested with only a singlet was enough embarrassment. They were apparently beaten and the wife, according to a Ghanaian Archbishop, Duncan Williams, very close to them, raped. Quattara would be swore in properly as President and Ghabgo put under house arrest for six months. The setting up of the Truth, Recociliation and Dialogue Commission thereafter was in keeping with Quattara’s earlier promise. But the surprising event of it all was the almost secret fly-over of Ghabgo to the International Criminal Court in Hague in December 2011. That obviously endangers the work of the Commission headed by a former Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny knowing that there were people on Quattara’s side who had also committed atrocities against innocent people. As to whether that was the right thing to do or not, and whether it would bring peace to the Ivory Coast or not, time would tell.

Many but a dictatorial leader who engineered precipitous landmark events have failed to be witnesses of the end times. Not long and far away, we had seen the intransigence of Sergeant Samuel Doe in Liberia which led to his death and of Charles Taylor whose nemesis is upon him in the International Criminal Court at The Hague. Foday Sankoh of the Revolutionary United Front in Sierra Leone who died like a chicken whilst been tried and in Ivory Coast itself, the follies of the late Robert Guei. They played against time and peoples popular desire but at the end only matching to a waterloo.