| The making of a new Cote D’Ivoire - Gambia |
So much to write about and the similarities are way too many so I will stick to the Houphet-Ado-Bedie part of the story to drive my point.
Context
In the early 90s in Cote D’Ivoire had Felix Houphet Boigny, a a tribal Baoulé chief come president fell ill and his prime minister at the time, Alassane Dramane Ouattara (ADO) tried to rule the country for the last 18 months of the old man’s life without much success simply because the constitution did not give him the power to do so.
On the wing, was another Baoulé who was strategically handpicked by Houphet to be the speaker of the house. Why was this position important? Simply because Houphet himself despite having a wild vision on how to develop Cote D’Ivoire was after all a tribal chief, harbored deep tribal believes when it comes to leadership and couldn’t see himself just handing power to a person outside of his tribe. In the Ivorian constitution, the speaker of the house was next in the line of succession.
ADO (from the Jula tribe) in the last 2 years of Houphet’s life was allowed to run the government with limited powers but the day he went on T.V to announce that Ivory Coast has been orphaned and that the old man is dead, is the day Cote D’Ivoire started its war.
Tribalism in Politics & Lessons for Gambia
The story of tribal politics in Cote D’Ivoire is so deeply rooted that it affected and continue to affect their daily lives. In the early 90s, anyone who visited Cote D’Ivoire will tell you how Ivorians identified foreigners - “étranger la”. In neighborhoods around Abidjan, the foreigners who’ve witnessed wars in other countries were cautioning them against seeing foreigners as bad to Cote D’Ivoire’s development but they never listened.
Ivorians like many Gambians identify themselves with their tribe and make their political association based on that. Peul bi, Sosseh Bi, Wollof Bi, etc. At the surface, it is OK because people are what they claim to be in terms of heritage and there are benefits and great historical references for one to be associated with a group’s proud heritage.
Gambia like Cote D’Ivoire is starting to tow a super dangerous line however. We have too many parties tied to the hip with a tribe. When you ask the wollofs, they tell you UDP party sosseh yi la, you ask the mandinka’s they say NRP party Peuls yi la, you ask the peuls, they say NPP party Sarahulleg yi la, and the Sarahullehs will tell you APRC party Jola yi la. Again, at the surface, it might seem insignificant until it blows up in our faces.
How will it blow up? Lessons from Cote D’Ivoire
1) Having a constitutional crisis:
The candidature of Ousainou Darboe needs to be sort out as soon as possible. I see those associated with the government pushing out theories that Darboe is somehow disqualified in the next round of elections. Darboe and his supporters believe the opposite is true. With less than a year to go, there shouldn't be any ambiguity in Darboe's qualification as the UDP candidate in the next elections.
In Cote D’Ivoire the constitutional crisis lead to Ado being banned from running and exiled. This was the first real shot fired in the Ivorian war. If Darboe’s candidature is not sorted out soon, then Gambia and Barrow must be prepared for a headache.
2) Presence of Foreign Forces
The presence of foreign forces in Ivory Coast has always been something a good number of Ivorians who were opposed to Houphet’s govt hated. Their continued presence played a significant role in the creation of perfect set up for chaos in Cote D’Ivoire as some in the Ivorian Army started to align themselves along tribal lines and political parties in opposition to force Lincoln.
Gambia, a similar scenario is playing out with Ecomog. The presence of Ecomog has started to make some Gambians uneasy. Adama Barrow ought to hurry up and take this security reform thing seriously so that the Gambian Army is given back its responsibility of being in charge of the security of the country.
3) Ivoiritè - who is more Gambian
Even during the time of Houphet, the tribes in Cote D’Ivoire and fueled by politicians always challenged each other on who was more Ivorian but Houphet was hugely admired so no one really gave him trouble. But during his time as prime minister, ADO being too close to France wanted to create a mini France in Africa and started to take on reforms and introduced French concepts and policies that just gave the Ivorian police power to abuse foreigners. He introduced Cadre de Sejours in Ivory Coast and the outcome was disatrous for foreigners. I remember the Ivorian Police harassing and arresting me and my childhood friend in front of his house while we are seated in his garden.
The end for Ado was ugly. Bediè became president after Houphet died and used Ado’s system of checking who is Ivorian and not Ivorian to disqualify him from running for elections; citing that Houphet’s longtime Prime Minister and most trusted partner was not Ivorian himself.
In Gambia, we saw this in the 2020 draft constitution on the citizenship of children being born in Gambia to non-Gambian parents and then recently, we’ve heard Politicians like Hamat Bah and loud mouths like Ebou Jallow speaking on the matter on who is Gambian and who comes from Guinea and Mali. The other side with some Mandinkas who are out of sync are equally guilty. Regardless of where people's grandparents and parents are from, as long as they’ve met the constitutional requirements to become a Gambian citizen, they are 100% Gambian and have the same right as the Gambian whose great grandfathers were present when the British first landed in Gambia. Anything short of that is a set up to antagonize and encourage people to set the country ablaze.
4) What Cote D’Ivoire didn’t have - Land Issue
Gambia however has one up on Cote D’Ivoire - land issue. Although it existed, by the time Houphet died, most of the battle for land by Ivorians and the tribes were already settled. In Gambia and as part of the new government reform agenda, land was supposed to be a top priority, but the government seem to not have the interest or will to do anything about it and have continued to drag their feet on settling the many land disputes in the country. Land is probably one of the most sensitive issues that must be dealt with. It is the issue that can easily bring chaos in Gambia. From time to time, we see Gambians hacking each other to death over land.
5) Hamat Bah
Not much to say. The man has always been a loose canon and those online trying to give him the benefit if doubt should be condemned. His most recent pronouncements are shameless and the truth is that his rat comment was a dog-whistle. It is dangerous rhetoric but then again the man has no common sense. I am not sure why the most ignorant people with the least common sense and worst intentions continue to be given position of authority to lead Gambians.
6) ADO - a leader in exile: Hello Jammeh
The present government ought to stop flirting with Yahya Jammeh’s status and tell Gambians what their intention is and take a position on Jammeh’s potential return to the Gambia.
Like ADO, if Gambians think Jammeh is just in EG farming, then they really must not have studied the dangers of not resolving the statuses of former big men. Ado while in exile adopted Jammeh’s tactic of keeping people guessing about his status but meanwhile in the background, he continued to sow the seeds of discord amongst Ivorians. By the time he was done and ready to come back to Abidjan, he had enough support from "rebels" and France to shoot his way straight into the Palais and take his place as President. Jammeh is however hated by the West and may not have the luxury ADO had in terms of likeness and a foreign power's support but it still does not remove the threat Yahya Jammeh poses to security of the country.
