Laurent Gbagbo: The man, his rise and fall
The man Laurent Gbagbo might have gone down in history as one of the people who worked hard to build a political career, reach the pinnacle and come tumbling down through their own making.
Monday April 11, 2011 at about 14:30 GMT Laurent Gbagbo was trending on Twitter. And that was the day that he was literally smoked out of what was initially reported to be a bunker in the Presidential residence. It turned out that, it wasn’t a bunker after all, but a basement.
Gbagbo had a long, momentous, and remarkable history behind him. He is a teacher by profession, he holds a PhD in history from a French University.
The man who was captured Monday morning April 11, 2011 for refusing to hand over power to his opponent after election run-off in November 2010 and disgracefully shown on international television and the Internet could have been a Colossus, a political enigma in Ivory Coast but for his intransigence and strong headedness.
Laurent Koudou Gbagbo was born on May 31, 1945 in Gagnoa to Zepe Paul Koudou (his father) and Gado Marguerite Koudou Paul (his mother). He is from the Bété tribe.
Gbagbo started his primary education in Agboville and Gagnoa and graduated in June of 1958. In June1965, he began studying for his first high school diploma certificate from the Traditional College of Abidjan.
He later gained admission to the University of Lyon in France where he studied Latin, Greek, and French and was nicknamed “Cicero” because of his love for Latin. He, however, did not finish his degree.
In 1969, he went back home to complete his undergraduate studies at the University of Abidjan, earning a bachelor’s degree in history.
Gbagbo went back to France in 1970 and completed his Master of Arts in history degree at the University of Paris at the Sorbonne and after he taught History and Geography at the University of Abidjan.
He obtained a doctorate degree in history at Paris Diderot University in France in 1979.
During his youthful days, Gbagbo got deeply involved in the political activities in his country. He was arrested for his political organizing activities in 1969.
He was imprisoned on March 31, 1971 for publishing subversive materials against the Ivorian government but released in January of 1974.
He became one of the main political opponents of the Late Presidency Félix Houphouët-Boigny when he formed the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) in 1982.
Even though he formed the FPI party, to prove his credentials as a democrat, he contested for the party’s Secretary –General position in November 1988 and won in an election.
When multi-party democracy was introduced in 1990 in Ivory Coast, Gbagbo was the only candidate to contest President Houphouët-Boigny in the October 1990 presidential election.
In 1992 he was sentenced to two years in prison, charged with inciting violence, but was released later in the year.
In July 1999, the FPI chose him as its Presidential candidate for the October 2000 presidential election.
The 2000 election was preceded by a military coup led by Robert Guéï after the death of then President Houphouët-Boigny in December 1999.
But Robert Guéï did not allow other presidential hopefuls like Alassane Ouattara, who was accused of “not being a real Ivoirian”, or Bedie to contest but allowed Gbagbo.
After the election Guéï claimed victory but he was toppled by Gbagbo, who then swore-in himself as President on
October 26, 2000.
But his term in office was rocked by political conflict which eventually left the country deeply divided. Indeed, the country was divided into two.
While Gbagbo ruled one half of the country, the other was taken over by rebels. The rebels seized Ivorian cities of Bouaké, and Korhogo.
However a peace deal between the government and the rebels was signed on March 4, 2007 in Burkina Faso. As a result of the peace deal,Guillaume Soro, leader of the rebel group was offered the Prime Minister position as a compromise.
Meanwhile, even though, Gbagbo’s term of office expired on October 30, 2005, he was given an extension to hold on until the 2010 presidential elections in which he was fiercely contested by Alassane Ouattara. The election went into a second round which was held on November 28, 2010.
The Electoral Commission of Ivory Coast declared Alassane Ouattara the winner, making Gbagbo the loser. But dissatisfied, Gbagbo later claimed that votes from nine regions were fraudulent.
The Ivorian Constitutional Council in a separate decision nullified the EC of Ivory Coast’s decision and declared Laurent Gbagbo as the President, then trouble began for the once prosperous nation.
Gbagbo’s action was strongly and roundlycondemned by the United Nations, ECOWAS, AU, the US, France and other Western countries who on the other hand, recognized Ouattara as the legitimate winner of the election.
And despite being advised to cede power, Gbagbo refused, insisting he had won the elections. As part of negotiations to get him to step down, he was made various offers including an opportunity to move to the US and take up a teaching appointment at an American university, but he turned that down.
Subsequently, economic sanctions as well as travel bans were imposed on him and his close associates by the international community.
A CNN report citing a senior African diplomat said Gbagbo was offered the chance to teach at Boston University as a visiting professor in the United States if he would renounce his claim to be president of Ivory Coast and end the country’s civil war.
The report also said Gbagbo was promised that the International Criminal Court would not seek to charge him with crimes, and his rival Ouattara offered to form a cabinet with up to 30% of Gbagbo supporters.
Gbabgo rejected the deal, and ensconced himself inside the Presidential residence while his forces and supporters battled with Ouattara’s forces and supporters.
Several thousands of Ivorians fled the country into exile and other several hundreds were killed.
As the stalemate dragged on, with the support of French and UN forces, Ouattara forces reportedly captured him Monday.
Gbagbo’s fall from grace to grass is remarkable in the sense that he started well as a democrat, but ended up disgracefully as a dictator, clinging tight to power that he had lost as soon as the UN pronounced him the loser of the November 2010 election run-off.
Ivory Coast, the world’s leading producer of cocoa, is now in a fluid situation with no immediate end in site as remnants of Gbagbo’s supporters are reported to be firing guns in the capital Abidjan.
As that goes on, Ouattara has said Gbagbo will be put on trial.
By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi & Ekow Quandzie
Greed, ignorance, corrupt, dictator as a lot of African leaders are doing for many years. Selfish leaders who are power hungry and power grabber.
Never want to relinquish power and as ignorant they think and it seem they own the leadership. This world have change and leaders shouldn’t think they own.
Most educated people sometimes exhibit a great sense of ignorant to less educated. what will be the state of Africa if these leaders don’t set a good example for us to follow.
I’m much more disappointed in most African Leaders for their Childish behavior.
This was coup d’etat. because Gbagbo is the only constitutionally recognized President of Cote d’ivoire. The chaos that is going on right now is the truth that this guy (ADO) is an usurper back by a blood thirsty French and UNUCI. I hurt knowing that African brothers backed that marchiavellian intervention that killed at least 2000 Ivorians, since hospitals and public transportation (Ferry and buses) were also bombarded. The AU is one coward organization that could not take a courageous decision after sending observers on the fields during tha election. Funny enough the AU observers reports is clear about frauds and election rigging. This coup is one big bone in the African continent throat that might destroy her. i am very sorry for the futur of my continent. Gbagbo is the only truly democratic president in Cote d’ivoire and maybe in the entire continent. He had been consistent since the crisis started. He claimed he won and he asked for recount. The other party through the UN like a hooligan “certified” the election without a constitutional basis. Their certification was supposed to intervene on the procedures not the the results that is the exclusive task of the constitutional counsel. So It would be respectful to some people to avoid commenting on matter they do not know. Very sorry for Africans that think whatever they hear from the western media is equivalent to the biblical truth.
with bent psyches and bruised ego,with much cargoes of opulence and unamused nolstegia i owe my pities to the likes of gbagbo and his colegues in africa and beyond who had failed to learn by history that tyranny and dictatorship is never a way of good leadership,history had never set those who adopted this way free.but i have more sympathy for gbagbo as once a history professor,so mr gbagbo,can you please tell us one day if you will ever survive this,which i dont pray for you to do ,irrespective of every single actrocities that you have committed, seen and unseen to be the president in the first place and in a platter of gold you were offered to leave to continue with thesame proffession you have chosen in your early career as a man ,to be visitng proffessor at boston university which you refused,rather vowed to die alongside with many that you have murderded.mr gbagbo can you tell the world and your captors,the lesson you have learnt in those volume of history books that you have read that qualified you a phd in history ,am sure you have more facts about hitler and his collegues who were once was.we are waiting to hear the message you have for us the lead on the last day …we are waiting..wiseman that died in a foolishman backyard..
Laurent Gbagbo is a great man. We need this kind of man to put an end to the french colonialism in Africa. It is so sad that France and his enemies made the whole world believe that he is a dictator which is not. Its been more than 2 weeks that Alassane with his rebels are in power and it’s a real chaos now. I still believe that justice will be done…just wait and see
To those people who talk about Laurent Gbagbo without knowing what was going on in Ivory Coast, pleazzzzzzzzzzzzz try to inform yourself and see beyond what the manipulated news make you believe. French people claim that laurent Gbagbo is a dictator but approve that rebels with their chief Alassane ouattara who kill since 2002 take power in Ivory Coast. Moreover there are a lot of dictators in Africa like Blaise Compaore but they call them dictator as long as they get their interests
correction: they DON’T call them dictator as long as they ensure their interests
i also appreciat Gbagbo as a great man because the french and the us government have over great conflic in Africa and it is time of us to disobey them because we have over supported them.Please Africa wake up,we all also have the right to elect our leader.
until you introduced the word, there’s nothing in this piece that suggests that Gbagbo was a dictator.
what happened in Ivory Coast in 2010 was clearly an electoral dispute which needed a neutral arbiter..and indeed Gbagbo was the one who throughout the confusion called for a recount…shamefully the constitution was overlooked too.