Stories of the Land

By Viviane Konan and Koné Gnangadjomon

With support from USAID’s Office for Conflict Management and Mitigation (USAID-CMM), SFCG has been conducting an 18-month project entitled “Reconciliation of Conflict in Divided Communities in Cote d’Ivoire.” The project’s main goal is to facilitate reconciliation between divided ethnic and religious groups in targeted areas in Côte d’Ivoire.

Much of the conflict in Cote d’Ivoire revolves around land and occurs between native Ivorians and immigrants to the country, especially those from Burkina Faso and Mali.

The following stories were collected in Soubré (Western Cote d’Ivoire); one of the areas where this project was implemented. They show how participants in SFCG’s training sessions understand conflict management fundamental concepts apply them in their daily life in order to manage conflicts and bring peace to their communities.

Zouba Lambert

Zouba Lambert was touched by the search of people’s hidden interests or unspoken issues as a way of transforming conflicts. Since the training session, he has been applying that knowledge in conflict settings and conflicting parties have agreed with his analysis. He was able to solve a land conflict in his village between a native Ivorian and an immigrant.

“This year, a man was killed by the army because he was accused of being a thief and a bandit in a village. This man possessed nine acres of coffee and cocoa. My cousin was among people who accused that man. Indeed, my cousin gave that land to the dead man. Curiously, soon after this man was killed, my cousin gathered villagers in order to expel the children of the deceased who helped him maintain his huge coffee plantation. He argued that these children could behave like their father. All inhabitants of the village agreed, but I realized that my cousin wanted a portion of the field based on my analysis of the unspoken issue.

Therefore, I proposed that the children remain in the village on the condition that they gave two acres of coffee to my cousin. Immediately my cousin jumped and asked: ‘Is that possible for these children to accept this idea?’

I talked individually to each child and begged them to accept my proposal if they wanted to get some peace with my cousin; because unless he got some he would not stop annoying them. Because they feared expulsion, the children found my proposal satisfactory for them and finally complied with it. As for cousin, he knew that he had not been honest and fair. He also realized that my proposal was a good idea.

Now, everything is fine between the two families and they are on good terms with one another.”

Aguié Okou Séraphin 

“Koïta Emile and I managed a conflict in Galea this year. This conflict was between the village chief and the population at large. They objected to the chief, criticizing him of not being an intellectual. The local administration through the sub-prefect was in charge of this conflict and asked us to restore calm. When we arrived, the population at large especially young people made us believe they did not need a chief who could not speak French. However, we knew that these claims were hidden interests.

In other words, we knew that key reasons of the conflict must be sought elsewhere. We found that there was no development (water, electricity, schools etc…) in the village. People were traveling up to several miles for potable water. People were forced to enroll their children in schools in nearby villages. In reality, young people criticized the Chief of doing nothing for the development of their village.  This is the main reason why the Chief was challenged. People thought that his illiteracy slowed down development in the village.

Furthermore, we agreed with local authorities that a chief cannot be discharged on such grounds. We proposed the creation of a development committee that will support the Chief in his duty. It has been revealed that the Chief’s illiteracy was not the issue but rather the lack of unity of sons and daughters of the village. We told them that even if the Chief was a great intellectual he cannot alone instigate development. It is a common issue. They should all unite around him to solve these problems.”

Did people take your suggestion into consideration? How has the conflict evolved today?

“In this regard, we notice that another conflict has emerged regarding who would be member of the committee. Indigenous and immigrants are divided on this issue. This conflict was harder than the first because people wanted the committee to be above the Chief. Once again, it was necessary to clarify the role of the committee and explain the responsibilities of each position. Finally, we brought people to organize a general meeting to form this committee. Democratic elections will be held soon to elect the committee leader.”