In a bid to improve the performance of the Ivorian police and gendarmerie services, the UN Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (UNOCI) in collaboration with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) organized a 5-day seminar last week for 20 senior officers on strategic planning.

Participants who included directors of the central police and gendarmerie administration, police prefects and legion commanders of the gendarmerie, were drilled on all the notions of strategic planning notably in view of security arrangements to be put in place during forthcoming major events.



"The police and gendarmerie constitute the two faces of the same coin which is security. What we want of the police and the gendarmerie is to have chiefs who can plan and lead their men to execute what has been planned," UNOCI Chief of police reform, Constant Soso Prosper explained.

For his part, one of the trainers, Commissioner Samy Bi Irie stressed on experience and the sharing of this experience with colleagues who might be called upon to play a role during the forthcoming elections. "We are thinking here of regional prefects, police prefects and gendarmerie legion commanders who are at the centre of the electoral process. If this network is extended to the regional level, the electoral process would be vertically planned, that is to say from the vision of the Head of State right down to the lowest rung of the ladder especially with regard to cohesion between the forces," the Commissioner elaborated.

The spokesman for the participants, Commissioner Casimir Kanga welcomed the holding of the seminar during which, he said, much has been learnt. "We are preparing for elections and a rigourous planning would enable us reassure the population to make sure the elections are peaceful."

At the closing of the seminar on 10 October 2014, several speakers including the Chief of UN Police, experts, representatives of UNDP and the Security Sector reform division of UNOCI took turns to appreciate the seminar and extol the excellent relations between UNPOL and the hierarchy of the Ivorian police and gendarmerie.