Hamed Bakayoko and Choi visit
the Moyen Cavally. Toulépleu said to them:
"help us live"

Le Patriote
 - After the war, Toulepleu dreams of
a better life. Toulepleu regretted the errors of some of its sons and begged the
state and the representative of UNOCI for forgiveness. "The war is over and
peace is back in Cote d'Ivoire", Nibo Isidore, the spokesman for the population
said to Hamed Bakayoko and Yung Choi Jin. "The population asks you to
congratulate the President of the Republic on his election, for his tolerance
and his spirit of reconciliation" he said. During the long period of crisis,
Toulepleu paid a heavy price. In many villages, many houses were destroyed and
violent crimes were committed. "Our wounds are wide open," Mayor Gnanhou
Marcellin said to Interior Minister and the chief of UNOCI. According to Karim
Diarra, the Prefect of Toulepleu, 6000 residents of Toulepleu were still in
Liberia even though 5000 had come back. "People are still afraid," Nibo Isidore
said. "They fear retaliation. Your presence here today reassures us more for our
security. However, we remain confident because of the pace of the return" he
added. The situation has actually improved since then. According to Ifa John,
commander of the 3rd Company of UNOCI in Toulepleu activities were gradually
resuming. "Daily market exists and the students have gone back to school" he
said. "Reconciliation is little by little becoming a reality," the Mayor said.
The Prefect confirmed this information and added that there is no refugee camp
in the region. Returning refugees are immediately integrated to their former
communities.

 

Building peace and social cohesion:
women met in Yamoussoukro

Le Democrate
 - Fifty women from women's
organizations in Yamoussoukro, on June 30 2011, gathered together at the United
Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) camp in Yamoussoukro to talk about
the "Place and responsibilities of women in strengthening social cohesion and
inter-communal reconciliation". The meeting, organized by the Office of Public
Information, was designed to educate and mobilize women, to get involved in
actions related to the culture of peace and tolerance. This discussion was also
aimed to encourage their participation in the resolution of crisis and their
effective commitment to create conditions for social cohesion and successful
reconciliation in their respective communities. Mamadou Diop, Focal Point of
UNOCI in Yamoussoukro welcomed the massive presence of these women at this
forum. "Your presence in large numbers is the sign of your commitment to true
reconciliation" he said. The prefect of Yamoussoukro, André Epkonon, welcomed
the UNOCI's initiative. "You do not build a nation based on intolerance, hatred
and that is why it is important that we have the tools to restore social
cohesion in our respective communities," he said. He wanted greater involvement
of women in the reconciliation process.

 

Politics: Abidjan denies recruiting
mercenaries in Cote d'Ivoire for Senegal

Soir Info
 - The Ivorian government, on
Saturday, categorically rejected allegations made by Senegalese opposition
leader, Macky Sall, that Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade had hired
mercenaries from Côte d` Ivoire to fight against opposition members. "We
strongly protest against this type of charge," Bruno Koné, the spokesman of the
Ivoirian government said to AFP. "We don't have any information of this type,
"he said. "We do not interfere in the internal politics of other states," the
minister said. "We know what it costs to have mercenaries on one's territory,"
he argued. The former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo, who was arrested on
April 11 after more than four months of post-electoral crisis, had recruited
Liberian mercenaries who are guilty of many abuses, according to the Government
of Alassane Ouattara and NGOs. One of the leaders of the Senegalese opposition,
former Prime Minister Macky Sall, on Friday accused Wade of recruiting
mercenaries whose hands were stained with blood from Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea and
of Nigeria "in order to kidnap opponents and members of civil society." The
Senegalese government has formally rejected the accusations as "very
irresponsible and very dangerous."

 

 

Interview / Kobena Anaky (President
of MFA): "Justice must be fair"

Soir Info
 The
President of the Movement of Forces of Future (MFA), Innocent Anaky Kobenan, on
July 2, 2011 held a press conference in Agboville.

 

Soir Info:
Mr. Minister, several
LMP militants are still outside the country, others are under house arrest.
People have had their accounts frozen. Do you think that in these circumstances,
reconciliation is possible?

 

Anaky Kobena:
Obviously, they deserve what they got. I am not for prison sentences. However,
we must recognize that there were over 3000 even more deaths during this
conflict. There were also other forms of crime. However, I recommend a South
African solution which consists of Dialogue Truth and Reconciliation. With
regard to the case of Blé Goudé and others, I do not think that it is their
persons that being are targeted but their actions.

 

Soir Info:
The period after the
effective consumption of power by the President Ouattara is punctuated by
insecurity, criticized nationally and internationally. According to you what is
the best plan to reduce this insecurity?

 

AK:
That problem is real but we have to wait a little bit. The President of the
Republic and the Prime Minister have given firm instructions and after 48 hours,
FRCI will completely withdraw the roadblocks.

 

Soir Info:
You seem dissatisfied
with the current configuration of the functions of the government and other
positions of responsibility...

 

AK:
Look at me; do I look like a man who is not satisfied? (laughs). No, there are
certainly frustrations, but I don't think it is a drama. The RHDP cannot be
shaken by small discontent. We are politically strong. The current government is
a government of mission until the parliamentary elections. From that moment on,
things will change. But if we unite, we will have a majority of seats in
parliament. This will allow the President to govern quietly and consider a
second term.

 

Soir Info: Corruption is a cancer
of the previous regime. Could President Ouattara fight against this evil?

 

AK:
Only strong actions against corruption will break its networks which are public
procurement, protection of rackets on our roads and in public services. But
above all our righteousness is a disaster. People easily accept envelopes before
working. It is unfortunate. We have to concentrate on the fight, because justice
must be fair to all.

 

Post-electoral crisis: Supporters
of the IB contact the international criminal court

L'Inter
 - Supporters of Sergeant Ibrahim
Coulibaly want to know what happened to their leader. So they have formally
requested the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate the death of the
ex-sergeant of the National Armed Forces of Côte d'Ivoire (Fanci). On Sunday, 3
July 2011 on Radio France International (RFI), the president of IB's supporters,
V.E. Fofana said he had asked the ICC to investigate the death of Ibrahim
Coulibaly. "We have information that we can make available to the Prosecutor of
the ICC so that the truth about the assassination of the "General" Ibrahim
Coulibaly, can be known" he said. V.E. Fofana also said that he had asked the
prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo to investigate the massacres of Ivorians since
2003.

 

Cocody General Hospital: Armed
elements attack agents

Le Patriote
 - The rogue elements continue to
tarnish the image of Republican Forces of Côte d'Ivoire (FRCI). Last Saturday,
they sadly illustrated this at Cocody General Hospital. That day, they landed
precisely in the emergency room with one of them seriously wounded. After
waiting a few minutes, they burst into the operating room, to requisition the
physician in order to operate on their colleague. He was brutalized and pulled
to the ground for saying that there was no equipment to perform surgery. "The
doctor was pushed around before his patients. A colleague was also bullied and
so was a member of staff in the pharmacy. There were ten attacks in total," the
Deputy Director of obstetrics said. Mr. T Sie, who was also in charge of the
administration of the hospital, was forced by these armed men to find medicines
and surgical materials. To express his dissatisfaction, staff observed an
immediate work stoppage. "They have defiled the operating room, it must sanitize
first before any surgery can be carried out there. It is forbidden to enter a
hospital with weapons" Mr. Sie said. Finally Colonel Karim Ouattara of FRCI
restored calm and serenity. In the afternoon, the Minister of Health, Prof.
N'Dri Yoman Theresa went to the University Hospital of Cocody to express his
sympathy to the workers. She invited the staff to resume their work. As we went
to press, 50% had returned to work with a minimum service for emergencies.