Snapshot: Côte d’Ivoire – Peu à Peu
A worker looks at the stock of medicine in the Pharmacie de la Sante Publique (Public Health Medicine) warehouse in Abidjan. Pharmacies and clinics in the country are running out of supplies of certain medicines, after the European Union imposed sanctions on Côte d'Ivoire to deepen incumbent Laurent Gbagbo's diplomatic isolation. (REUTERS/ Thierry Gouegnon)
About Karno Ouattara, our Studio Coordinator in Côte d’Ivoire updates us on the situation in CIV as it progresses. About is writing from Daloa in the West and is regularly in touch with staff in our Abidjan office. The violence has worsened, he says while supplies diminish.
Here on the ground in Côte d’Ivoire, two major events have occurred.
The first concerns the camp of the Congrès Panafricain des Jeunes et des Patriotes (COJEP) commonly known as the “Young Patriots.” The Young Patriots are a political youth movement, founded and lead by Charles Blé Goudé, that supports Laurent Gbagbo and his ruling party the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI). Blé Goudé has asked the Young Patriots to enlist in military service to take part in the “struggle for Liberation of Côte d’Ivoire.” On Monday there were many young people who responded to his call. Thousands stormed the General Staff of the Army to enlist.
The second bit of key information is the advancement of the Republican Forces of Côte d’Ivoire (former Forces Nouvelles) on the Western Front. According to information we received from our partners further west, fighting began Saturday in a small town called Doké, located between Toulepleu and Bloléquin. This fighting continued throughout the weekend and ended early yesterday with the capture of the town of Bloléquin by the Republican Forces of Côte d’Ivoire. According to our sources, several members of the FDS (Forces of Defense and Security) have allegedly joined the Republican Forces.
Economically, the situation has become increasingly difficult. After the banks have closed one after the other in February, other companies have now followed suit. These are primarily companies in Abidjan. The heads of these companies mention security issues or the fact that their employees are unable to reach the workplace. Stores and other large suppliers are increasingly faced with problems restocking and their supplies are emptying little by little.
~About Karno Ouattara
With both sides amassing power and resources, the threat of war is imminent. Neighboring President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf says, “We’re already at war.”
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The embargo on medicines is most worrying. The anti-retroviral programs for HIV/Aids patients are in serious crisis and are endangering thousands of lives as those who come off the ARVs risk building drug-resistant strains. Most pharmacies and hospitals are out of several life-saving medications, other than just the ARVs. I searched 15 different pharmacies in the city this week trying to find the medications my family needs and couldn’t find them. This is surely a crime against humanity. The embargoes and sanctions are killing our economy and will take years to recover from, yet Gbagbo still manages to pay his civil workers. He still manages to get funding from outside sources. Embargoes that do not have the full support of all outside governments or parties often end up escalating a conflict as opposed to de-escalating it. How do these sanctions hurt Gbagbo? It’s hurting the people. They are indiscriminate, and instead of targeting Gbagbo, they are targeting the poor, the cocoa farmers, the workers, people who are unpolitical… Place targeted sanctions on Gbagbo and his cronies, but please don’t endanger the lives of the civilians with broad embargoes and sanctions. More people here will die from these sanctions than from the fighting itself. I wish the outside world would realize that.
We see more and more people fleeing the city each and every day. There are hoards of people waiting at the gbaka (minibus) stops piled with luggage. Our neighbourhood is becoming increasingly deserted as our neighbours head for their villages. We had nearly half the population unemployed before the crisis, and those who did have jobs were supporting large amounts of people on their meager salaries. Now, most industries have closed. Many shops in several districts cannot open after received warnings that they would be burned to the ground if they did. All these people have lost their jobs. The prices of food has sky-rocketed, and people can no longer feed their families. They flee to the villages with hopes of finding food for their families and escaping the daily violence. It is a sad situation that seems to have no end in sight.
We are hoping that both these leaders who are so desperate for power give up their selfish fight and leave this country forever. It is time we had a change, and that we have new leaders who haven’t been involved in past violence and politics. Both repeatedly use their different media to call their people to war. The average Ivorian just wants to go to work, eat, and have their family live in safety and we can’t do this if these armies continue to arm themselves and outside countries continue to help destroy our economy.
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