Côte d'Ivoire: Laurent, Simone and the bible

Simone wearing a white dress and Laurent in his best suit, holding hands like newly-weds who have just made their vows to the mayor. Even today I cannot explain why this image came to my mind when, on March 25, I learned that forces close to the elected President Alassane Outtara had launched a general military offence against the troops of Laurent Gbagbo.

LAURENT AND SIMONE GBAGBO UNDER FIRE

On December 4, 2010, Gbagbo had sworn himself in as president of Côte d’Ivoire even though the results of the election had declared him to be the looser, even though people had taken to the streets to protest and the whole world had condemned his attempted coup. And that day, the Gbagbo couple had found itself again, as if by miracle. Every one in Côte d’Ivoire knew their marriage was in crisis.

While the soldiers of the Prime Minister Guillaume Soro were advancing towards Abidjan, while the cities fell, one after the other, I saw Laurent and Simone hug each other as if it were the last time. But could they really have thought that after December 4 they would be able to remain in power, against everything and every one? In order to understand it we have to take a step back into history, a cruel history that brought an entire nation, my nation, to its knees.

AN INSANE HISTORY

Laurent and Simone met in the ‘70s when they were both teachers and activists in clandestine parties. In 1982, after a teachers strike, Laurent had to escape to France in order to hide from the wrath of the then President Houphouet-Boigny.

Following the introduction of the multiparty system in 1990, Laurent and Simone founded the Ivorian Popular Front (IPF) which would soon become the most important opposition party in Côte d’Ivoire. Two years go by and Alassane Ouattara, who then was the Prime Minister of Houphouet-Boigny, throws the Gbagbo couple into prison, following a march which ended violently.

The seeds of hate that Laurent and Simone harbour for Ouattara were probably sown then, but the time was not yet ripe to say so openly. Rather, an unusual alliance was born between Gbagbo and Ouattara after Bédié, Houphouet-Boigny’s successor, denied Outtara the right to run for the Ivorian presidency due to ‘suspected origins’ (Ouattara was accused to have at least one of his parents was from Burkina Faso).

It only took Bédié’s fall, following a military coup, to shatter the alliance. With Laurent Gbagbo in power in 2000, it was like having two presidents for the price of one. Standing behind him, Simone was ever present. Elected Vice President of the National Assembly, she behaved herself like a Vice President of the Republic. Laurent had never hidden his traditional marriage to the young and beautiful Muslim Nady Bamba. But Simone shrugged her shoulders and became a wholehearted Christian Evangelist, to the point that she organised prayers every Friday at the National Assembly.

In between prayers, in 2002 a rebellion guided by Guillaume Soro rose in the North. His attempt to take over is a failure but it is more than enough to split Côte d’Ivoire in two. Gbagbo suspects Ouattara, who is from the North, to be the godfather of this rebellion.

International forces enter into play in order to keep the peace between the two sides of the country but their presence does not prevent the death squads from killing Ouattara’s supporters. Simone Gbagbo is accused of being behind the squads, a fact she has always denied. In the same way that her husband denied all the tricks he used to postpone presidential elections from 2005 to 2010.

EVANGELICAL PASTORS GOT ON BOARD

In the meantime Evangelical pastors who have always frequented the couple proclaim that the power conferred to Gbagbo is the fruit of a divine choice and those who dare to fight them have been sent by the devil. For a while it was funny but when people realised that the Gbagbos were being serious we became scared.

In October 2010 we end up going to elections. Gbagbo sells himself as the ‘100% candidate for Côte d’Ivoire’ while Ouattara is the ‘foreign candidate’. This time the electorate doesn’t give in and votes for Ouattara. A victory that the United Nations confirmed, however, against the law and all possible proof, the president of the constitutional council, a friend of Laurent Gbagbo, declares him the winner of the presidential elections.

LAURENT GBAGBO, THE ILLEGAL PRESIDENT

Among the protests of the international community, on December 4 Gbagbo becomes president of Côte d’Ivoire. Since then and despite all attempts at mediation, the sanctions, the threats to resort to the use of force, Gbagbo refuses to step down from power. The voices from the palace say that it is Simone who, under the influence of her pastors, does not want to leave the helm to the so-called ‘forces of Evil’. As they wait for the final ruling, the men close to Gbagbo start to kill the opponents.

At least 200 people had already been found dead by the time I am informed, in the afternoon of January 10, that pro-Gbagbo militias have been looking for me at my old house. I hid for two days and then left Abidjan with the help of international forces to reach Paris on January 19 via Burkina Faso.

I HAVE A DREAM

Dozens of Ivorians preceded me and many others followed in my footsteps. While I dreamed of returning to my homeland as soon as possible, in Côte d’Ivoire the situation became increasingly desperate. Soldiers opened fire against women, threw grenades in a market and every day the number of victims increased. On the opposite front, the rebel forces of the premier, Soro, decided to side with Ouattara and organise the resistance. First in Abidjan and then in the rest of the country with an offensive that every one expected.

We have feverishly followed the conquests made by pro-Outtara troops. We thought that once they arrived in Abidjan the liberation would only be a matter of time. I felt that I could be back home soon, celebrating with my beloved ones. Saying ‘yes, a new day has come’. But something happened on April 1. The television, which we thought was controlled by the Republican Forces, asked Gbabgo’s supporters to take to the streets. According to the media, cities were sacked as the liberators conquered the presidential palace. But Gbagbo and his men kept on resisting. The situation was incredibly confused.

The Ivorians abroad who had packed their suitcases, thinking of going back home soon, were forced to unpack them with a heavy heart. While I’m finishing this article, the United Nations and France are announcing negotiations with Gbagbo in the quest to make him recognise Outtara’s victory and hand over power to Côte d’Ivoire new leader. But I still see Simone and Laurent in their wedding clothes, united by an insane destiny, with a bible in their hands.

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* This article first appeared on Afronline.
* Venance Konan is an Ivorian journalist and writer. Following the political crisis, he was persecuted by pro-Gbagbo soldiers and forced to escape to France.
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