Abou Moussa, Principal Deputy
Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Côte d'Ivoire
on his return from the African Union's meeting: "We are holding internal
consultations on the issues of names' removal"

Le Jour Plus  –
The principal Deputy
Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Côte
d'Ivoire, Mr. Abou Moussa, on Monday 16 August, held an interview with ONUCI-FM
on his return from Addis Abeba where he participated in the 838^th
meeting of the African Union's Security Council. He addressed the issues of
disarmament before 31 October and especially the removal of names from the
voters list.

[...] ONUCI FM:
[...] you said you were very glad; the African Union also welcomed the date for
election set for 31 October 2010. What is the basis for your welcoming the
decision when we know that election dates have not been respected six times
already?

Abou Moussa:
For the African Union or
ourselves, the choice the 31 October date is a very important factor; it is a
choice by Ivorian people – through the Independent Electoral Commission [...] the
current situation is much more conducive to the holding of elections than in the
past.  

[...] ONUCI FM:
Does UNOCI have good news two months before the date scheduled? What does UNOCI
plan to do concretely regarding all the activities to be carried out?

Abou Moussa:
It is clear that the government relies on us for the transportation of the
electoral materials I have just talked about. This will be done. We are working
together with the electoral commission for the necessary technical advice. When
time comes, we will even hand over tents to the Forces Nouvelles. I cannot
provide you with details; many tents and the materials they asked for to
continue the disarmament which started a few months ago. So these are certain
items of support we promised and we will keep our promise.

ONUCI FM:
So you promised and you will do it. With regard to disarmament, are we still
able to take up this challenge? The process started in Korhogo and then nothing
else.

Abou Moussa:
Listen, there is a commitment made by the actors. We should not have doubts
about the challenge. Our responsibility is to provide what we have according to
our capacity so that the operation does not come to a stop.

[...] ONUCI FM: A topical
issue, Mr. Abou Moussa, the appeals process is currently charged  with a lot of
emotion with petitioners presenting long lists of names to be removed from the
electoral register. What is UNOCI's position on this issue? How do we avoid
these strong feelings? How we avoid a renewal of violence?

Abou Moussa:
Listen, I think that this aspect, especially violence, is a cause for concern to
the mission and we are holding internal consultation in this regard. When the
 time comes, we will thoroughly address the issue.

ONUCI FM:
What are you going to do concretely?

Abou Moussa:
Listen, I told you that we will announce our strategy. For the time being, the
mission is considering the issue to propose some measures so that we can avoid
violence. 

 

 

 

UNOCI pays final homage

Soir Info  –
The United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI), on Tuesday at the
mission's headquarters paid final homage to the Ghanaian soldier, Warrant
Officer Akudzoé Godwin Yao, who died on 10 August 2010 at a clinic in Abidjan
where he was evacuated following a stroke. The Special Representative of
the United Nations Secretary-General for Côte d'Ivoire, Y. J. Choi, Deputy Force
Commander, Gen. Benjamin Kusi and many other military and civilian members of
the mission attended the funeral ceremony.

 

Presidential election: The
Japanese ambassador to Côte d'Ivoire encourages the holding of elections

Fraternité Matin  –
Recalling that the Japanese government has never "abandoned Cote d'Ivoire at the
level of bi-lateral  cooperation" even when the crisis increased, since "genuine
friends are only known in times of  misfortune", his Excellency Mr. Okamura
Yoshifumi, the Japanese Ambassador to Côte d'Ivoire, is optimistic regarding the
crisis-resolution process based on  presidential election scheduled for 31
October. In this regard, he invited Ivorians to get involved in the election,
saying: "Let us do it once and for all". Then he added: "Elections will be held
soon. Ivoirians have to be ready for reconstruction". He then illustrated his
words, using the fruits of Ivoiro-Japanese cooperation: "Let us eat together the
rice from Japan and have strength in the work for a better future of Côte
d'Ivoire". For those who know the Japanese diplomat, this is an invitation to
Ivorian authorities to concentrate their effort in order to respect the date of
31 October. He reminded the international community that "Japan donated more
than 3.8 billion FCFA for the purchase of ballot boxes and polling booths."

 

Korhogo Sub-Prefecture – The 
Local campaign manager was almost beaten

Le Patriote  –
"Because of his age and my
colleagues' intervention I think  I would have beaten him. The beating would
have allowed the population to realize that there is a serious problem in
Korhogo, which is the removal without evidence of some people's names from the
voters list". These are  the words by Mr. Coulibaly Mamadou, also known as
Doumbès, who is recalling the hot argument between him and Mr. Gbon Coulibaly
also known as Baba Plé, the local campaign manager in the sub-prefecture of
Korhogo for candidate Gbagbo. The former, along with his colleague in charge of
the district of Korhogo, presented requests for the removal of thousands of
names from the voters list. (...)

 

Korhogo: Presidential camp
wants to remove 10000 persons

Le Patriote  –
The appeals process on the electoral list ended in Korhogo on 6 August 2010. But
for the members of the presidential camp under the leadership of the Campaign
Directors of candidate Laurent Gbagbo, including the Local Campaign Manager in
the municipality of Korhogo, Mamourou Coulibaly and the Local Campaign Manager
in the Sub-Prefecture of Korhogo, Gbon Coulibaly, known as Baba Plé, both under
the leadership of their leader Coulibaly Issa Malick, National Campaign Manager
for candidate Gbagbo, the appeals process is ongoing. In fact, for two or three
days, these men have been using dozens of people working night and day in their
laboratory of nationality detection to remove from the provisional voters list
those who, according to them, are not Ivoirians and  should not be registered on
the voters list. The result was 10000 names in the Korhogo district including
3271 for Korhogo only. People they do not know at all. [...]

 

 

Interview/Ibrahime Kuibiert
(Justice Department):
"whistleblowers could likely get three months to 5
years of prison."

 

 Le Patriote  -
The chief of staff of the
Justice Ministry, Kuibiert takes stock of the process, explains the procedures
and penalties to be incurred by those who spread slanderous denunciations.

 

Le Patriote: How are the
appeals, you are the focal point are they progressing so far?

 

Ibrahime Kuibiert: Things are
progressing well. All courts have been informed of the appeals. We are concerned
about the courts of Man and Katiola. These courts were sacked sometimes ago. It
was therefore necessary to rehabilitate and furnish them before asking judges to
go back there. This work justifies the slight delay. As you know, the
Independent Electoral Commission has told us the whole operation will not be
done in record time but gradually.

 

LP: What are the penalties to
be incurred by those who spread slanderous denunciations?

 

IK: Before talking about
penalties, we must appreciate the situation in a very broadly way. There are
violations made during the appeals. These violations are different from
slanderous denunciations. We must understand that false accusation is a
violation of the law. During the appeals, some of the violations are not
punished like any common offence. What we notice today is that anybody can
accuse anybody of forgery of nationality. However the law clearly says that only
the candidates can complain to the prosecutors. Apart from the candidates no one
else can make a complaint. If someone decides to accuse his fellow, he could be
condemned by the law and get three months to five years in prison.

 

 

Gagnoa: Electoral provisional
list- the removal of people from the list continues – 4000 people targeted

 

Soir Info  –
the aim of the « the think
tank » of the Ivorian Popular Front is to eradicate suspicious names from the
electoral list. Since July 28 presumed fraudsters have to face the court of
Gagnoa. More than 373 have been caught.