La Cote d’Ivore: My Humble Opinion

Ghana 1 Minute

I was invited last week to Radio Univers to discuss la Cote d’Ivoire. I gave my opinions, some of which have since changed, and shared my hope, which still abide my breast.

Laurent Gbagbo has recently appointed legal representation. He shose the lawyer who also represented former US President Bill Clinton. That was on the BBC today. The attorney expressed views that are consistent with my current views on the impass.

Do nations have constitutions? Yes, they do. Do they have bad ones? Certainly! In la Cote d’Ivoire, their constitution provides that a residual arm will declare and swear in the elected President.

That is a bad arrangement, yet the stakeholders went into the elections under those provisions. I appreciate that arrangements were made concerning certification of results that made for inclusiveness among all interested parties, both local and international. However, if all of these fall short of constitutional amendments, then the current constitutional procedures have to be respected before challenged.

But they must be challenged. We must ensure that the nation gets better electoral legislation. We must also ensure that we do not encourage a disregard for the constitution that may fuel future abuses of the legal regime by selfish politicians.

I believe that the opposition candidate My Ouatarra should be the President, but I recognise that presently, Mr Gbagbo is legally the President. He is not morally or democratically legitimate in any way, but his President is wholly legal.

Negotiations must begin on a note of respect; respect that acknowledges that he is the legal leader of the nation as provided for by the highest law of the land, and then progress can be made to install the legitimate Presided as provided for by the express will of the people.

A review, as Mr Gbagbo has called for, is necessary. We must verify that the Constitutional Court was wrong in its determination that some results needed to be annulled. We must also verify that no breaches of human rights lawas, local and international, have been made, and we must make arrangements to bring either case to redress.

My humble opinion.

We look on in hope, and watch in prayer.

Published by Agana-Nsiire Agana

Agana-Nsiire Agana is a writer, theologian, and social activist from Ghana. Agana has been active in Ghana’s literary scene since 2004 when he began performing his poetry on radio and online. His poem “A Bird in Me Heart” has been reviewed for Ghana Literary Week and in 2017 his short story “The Message” was published in The Wrong Quarterly. In 2018, he authored and self-published Master the Pidgin, an Elementary Grammar of Ghanaian Pidgin English. In 2020, he was nominated for a Millennium Excellence Award for his “contribution to Ghana’s socio-economic and political development through English Literature and Poetry.” Agana’s poetry and short stories draw on an eclectic educational background spanning biology, software, business, and theology—as well as a keen interest in history and philosophy—to explore the themes of identity, personhood, and the quest for meaning in a rapidly changing world. These themes also underly his current research at the University of Edinburgh, where he currently studies youth digital cultures as a PhD student in World Christianity. In his spare time, Agana is an avid birdwatcher and nature photographer.

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One thought on “La Cote d’Ivore: My Humble Opinion”

  1. Interesting opinion. I think Gbagbo should leave immediately. I realize you wrote this a while ago, but I am disappointed in Atta-Mills’s handling of the issue.

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