Ivory Coast crisis: ECOWAS has eggs on face, West Africa Central Bank lies about freezing account
The drama that is going on in Ivory Coast is becoming farcical, as the actors each look ridiculous and unfit for their roles.
The actor with the worst act in the drama has turned out to be ECOWAS, the West African regional grouping made up of 15 countries, some ruled by dictators and known lunatics who are hounding and killing their own citizens daily. There are even suspected murderers with no known democratic credentials parading the corridors of ECOWAS as presidents.
It was therefore, funny when ECOWAS, despite its inability to raise an army under the circumstances jumped the gun, joined the chorus of international community to order Laurent Gbagbo to step down or be removed by military force.
The ECOWAS obviously, eager to be seen to be part of the international community in condemning the situation in Ivory Coast, issued the threats against Laurent Gbagbo without any careful analysis of the issues at stake.
The other joker whose jokes fail to amuse the audience is the West African Central Bank (BCEAO). Despite joining the IMF, World Bank and others to impose economic and financial sanctions on the Gbagbo faction, the Gbagbo government is said to be drawing money from the Dakar office of the bank every day.
Allasane Ouattara, the man the international community believes is the winner of the November 28, 2010 election run-off complained to journalists in Washington in a conference call that the incumbent, Laurent Gbagbo, was still receiving central bank funds on a daily basis.
Gbagbo is still withdrawing money daily from the BCEAO, headquartered in Senegal, Dakar.
Apart from the financial muscle Gbagbo has as a result of the BCEAO’s decision to allow him access to the country’s funds, despite telling the whole world that it has frozen the accounts, Gbagbo says he can’t guarantee the safety of the millions of ECOWAS citizens in that country.
Now stuck in a quagmire, ECOWAS seems to be embarrassed with no clear answer to the political stand-off in Ivory Coast, which without any doubt is a threat to regional stability.
Right from the word go, it was possible to tell that ECOWAS has no political will to invade Ivory Coast with an army to remove Gbagbo from office. The act in itself would have been catastrophic for the people of Ivory Coast and its neighbours, particularly, Liberia and Ghana. The high number of refugees already fleeing to Liberia and the fall in business activities on border towns between Ghana and Ivory Coast are signs that portend to what could possibly have happened, as the military invasion would lead to an escalation of violence in that country.
As Ivory Coast continues on the precipice, it doesn’t appear clearly now that the international community has an answer to the political crisis. ECOWAS, by its hasty thoughtless threat has lost the moral right to mediate a peaceful resolution, so now who would intervene?
In any case, a speedy resolution of the tension in Ivory Coast is necessary and must therefore be achieved as soon as possible to save that country from falling headlong into destruction.
It is unfortunate, however, that over 240 people have already died and some 50 are reported missing.
By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi
Email: [email protected]
Please there are no matters to be discussed. As those matters are long in Ivory Coast. Gbagbo had lost the Elections. PERIOD. Now Ghana’s President had to be blamed for Gbagbo refusing to stand down because of his personal friendship with Gbagbo. Ghana’s president is selfish and the people of Ghana are angry on his position. Because tomorrow can be Ghana turn and can Ghana call other African Country to help?
PRESIDENT MILLS OF GHANA HAD STUB THE BACK OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY AND HE SHOULD NOT BE TRUSTED. Ecowas was thinking of options and no African Country had made such an irresponsible statement from Ghana’s President.
EKOW/UK
THE UN DEFRAUDS ELECTION : AFGHAN and IVORY COAST ELECTION LESSONS
Galbraith, the U.S. Special Representative to Afghanistan, was announced as the next United Nations’ Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan on March 25, 2009 but abruptly left the country in mid September 2009 at the request of UN Special Representative to Afghanistan Kai Eide following a dispute over the handling of the reported fraud in the 2009 Afghan presidential election – and on September 30, the UN announced that he had been removed from his position by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
The United Nations fired Mr. Galbraith, its No. 2 official in Afghanistan, in September 2009 after he wrote a scathing letter accusing the head of the mission of concealing election fraud that benefited the campaign of the incumbent president, Hamid Karzai.
In response to his firing, Galbraith told The Times, “I was not prepared to be complicit in a cover-up or in an effort to downplay the fraud that took place. I felt we had to face squarely the fraud that took place
Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission, or IEC, a body appointed by Karzai and subservient to his wishes, was deeply implicated in the 2009 fraud. The commission and its staff either produced the phony tallies — which gave Karzai more than 1 million of his 3 million votes — or collaborated with those who did. In many instances, the commission reported pro-Karzai results from polling centers that never existed. Mr. Galbraith’s warnings about fraud were largely confirmed in October, when a United Nations-backed audit stripped the Afghan leader of almost one-third of his votes. . The United Nations announced that Galbraith had initiated legal action against the United Nations over his dismissal.
Get the point of Peter Galbraith in Washington post of Sunday, October 4, 2009
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/02/AR2009100202855.html
see this link about the official statement of African Union headed by former Togolese Prime Minister Koffigoh.
http://ivorycoastelection.org/files/Attachment_J_AU_Observers.pdf
In Ivory coast, The Chairman of the electoral commission only in complicity with the UN representative in Ivory Coast gave false results in Ouattara HQ. This chairman has been driven by the US ambassador to Ouatara HQ to announce the winner. If really Ouattara distance of 500,000 votes out of 5 millions voters ,why they (UN, Ouattara, Obama, Sarkosy) refuse to recount in live before all TV channel in the world? .I repeat, UN, Ouattara, Gbagbo have the same 20,000 election minutes. In the north of Ivory Coast under rebel control more than 2,200 polling centers have more voters than registered, a turnout of 400%, unheard of. Many votes were counted than were cast. Moreover in over 500 polling stations Gbagbo is left with no votes when he is supposed to have at least two representatives in office votes who are entitled to vote . Do not trust the UN.
For god sake why would africans be easily carried away by western propaganda . Why are they not investigating but following the lies of sarkozy and his rebels who have blocked the ivorian government work for eight years. Why can’t the e.u. sent troops to belarussia to set a good example for others to follow. Why is the u.n. and the e.u. not dismissing belarussia embassadors . What is going on in ivory coast is only in the interest of france and the rebels not the majority. Please let africans make their own analysis before taking orders from the hypocritical west. Its festus from monrovia