Ouattara, please go

The euphoria that greeted the general elections in Senegal, Botswana and Ghana, seems to be punctured by the recent indication that the President of Cote d’Ivoire, Allasane Ouattara, intends to vie for the seat for the fourth time, in this year’s presidential election. At a recent event in Abidjan, the country’s commercial capital, Mr. Ouattara, […]

The euphoria that greeted the general elections in Senegal, Botswana and Ghana, seems to be punctured by the recent indication that the President of Cote d’Ivoire, Allasane Ouattara, intends to vie for the seat for the fourth time, in this year’s presidential election.

At a recent event in Abidjan, the country’s commercial capital, Mr. Ouattara, 83 this year, mooted a seemingly improbable fourth presidential term (“I’m in good health and eager to serve my country”) so far as his party, the Rally of Houphouetists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP), was ready to back his candidacy. However, just as when he made a similar announcement in 2019, he added: “As of today, I have not yet made a decision.”

In 2019, there were speculations that he was going to vie for a third term which ran contrary to the provision of his country’s constitution, Ouattara dismissed the idea saying that there is a need for a generational change in Africa.

“Seventy-five per cent of Africans are under 35 years of age. The French president is 40; my eldest son is 52. It is clear to me that the path is towards a transfer to a new generation.”  But he added, almost immediately: “I’m not telling you that I am leaving, be careful.”

True to his prophecy, he went ahead to secure a bitterly contested third term after Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly, widely seen as his preferred successor, died unexpectedly in July 2020.

So, with the benefit of hindsight, it should be taken for granted that  Mr Ouattara will contest again as early indications showed that he would be fully backed by his party stalwarts.

Last October, top party officials anointed Mr. Ouattara their “natural candidate” and expressed a “desire to do everything possible” to ensure his victory in next October’s presidential election.

It is unfortunate that Ouattara is taking this path and he should not be allowed to have his way given the current unfortunate happenings in West Africa. Moreover, he needs to be reminded that he came to power in 2010 through a strong backing of his countrymen and the international community, especially those in the ECOWAS, when the then incumbent, Laurent Gbagbo, refused to concede defeat after a widely-believed free and fair election.

He needs to be reminded that not less than 3,000 of his compatriots were killed and another 500, 000 displaced in the struggle to ensure that he occupies his legitimate seat. Yet, he seems to have forgotten that or he has decided to ignore that fact of history.

It also seems that President Ouattara either appears not to have read the current mood in the region or has quickly forgotten what happened in Senegal where attempts by former President Macky Sall to extend his tenure through subterfuge was resisted by the people and had to concede, leaving office disgraced.

There is no other name for what President Ouattara is doing than ungratefulness, and it is absolutely important that he be stopped in his tracks. The leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) must come out to clearly tell him so.

They must show their disdain for his intention as they have done so with military takeovers in Mali, Niger, Guinea and Burkina Faso. Otherwise ECOWAS will look foolish and be susceptible to accusations of double standard if it does not take a stand against Mr. Ouattara.

It needs no reminder to the fact that the situations it is managing in these countries were largely caused by the resolve by former incumbents in some of these countries to perpetuate themselves in power. This is what Ouattara is determined to do.

The African Union and friends of Africa who value democracy and freedom must also lend their support to ECOWAS to ensure that democracy thrives in Cote d’Ivoire.

But, most importantly, the people of Cote d’Ivoire must protect democracy by standing up to dictators like Mr Ouattara. They can learn from what happened in neighbouring Senegal where the people united against Sall and ensured that he did not succeed in usurping their right to choose their leaders.

African leaders must learn to adhere to the rules of democracy. In this new age, we should be paying more attention to challenges of development, which we require most, rather than the perpetuation of rulers who have long passed their usefulness.

Mr. Ouattara says he is “eager to continue serving” his country. Very well. There is no law that says he can only do this as president. The moral and reasonable thing to do is to leave office at the expiration of his current term and let the political process take its course. The high ground beckons. President Ouattara should take it.