Discussion of All Things Political

Heavy fighting continued on Monday in Abidjan amid an ongoing power struggle between forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo, Cote d'Ivoire's incumbent president, and those backing his political rival Alassane Ouattara.

Pro-Ouattara fighters were reported to have moved into the Yopougon neighbourhood held by Gbagbo loyalists. Gun battles raged near the home of army chief of staff Phillipe Mangou who has remained loyal to Gbagbo since November's presidential elections. Ouattara is internationally recognised as the winner of that vote.

The state-run RTI television station denied local reports that Mangou's house had been attacked. A spokesman for the pro-Gbagbo army, Col. Hilaire Gohourou, confirmed that the battle in Yopougon was ongoing, but refused to give any further details.MORE

But not all revolutions are blessed with this level of attention. The West African nation of Gabon is experiencing a popular revolt against the rule of Ali Bongo Ondimba, son of long-time strongman Omar Bongo, president since October 2009. Thousands of opposition supporters took to the streets of the nation's capital Libreville, on 29 January, and faced violent suppression from Ali Bongo’s troops. Protests have spread to other cities, and the crackdown against them has become increasingly fierce. Protests planned for 5 and 8 February were both suppressed with tear gas. At this point, it’s unclear whether protesters will be able to continue pressuring the government, or whether the crackdown has driven dissent underground.

The protests in Egypt and Tunisia have focused attention on autocratic governments with a history of corruption. In Egypt, the possibility of a Mubarak dynasty moving from Hosni to Gamal Mubarak helped stoke dissent. Gabonese are familiar with these types of problems. Omar Bongo is widely believed to have systematically looted the Gabonese treasury for his personal benefit. A suit brought in France by Transparency International against the governments of Gabon, Congo and Equatorial Guinea, accuses Bongo of depositing 8.5% of the national budget into a personal account at Citibank, siphoning more than $100 million from the country between 1985 and 1997. When Bongo finally died in a Barcelona hospital in 2009, a controversial election ended up selecting Bongo’s son as a new leader amid widespread accusations of voter fraud. And while Gabon, blessed with oil wealth, has a very high gross domestic product per capita by sub-Saharan African standards, little of that wealth reaches the Gabonese people, one third of which live in poverty.


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Cameroonian reporter Julie Owono is following the story on Global Voices.


COTE D'IVOIRE


GLobal Voices: Cote d'Ivoir

Interesting how African dictators sometimes use Pan-Africanism as rhetoric for their power grabs. Côte d’Ivoire : About Gbagbo's Pan-Africanism.



CôTE D'IVOIRE


Cote d'Ivoire Crisis Page

Cote d'Ivoire Crisis Drags On Amid African Ferment

With the world's attention focusing on mass mobilization and historic shifts of power in Tunis and Cairo, the crisis in Côte d'Ivoire has faded into the background but remains completely unresolved. A series of briefings by the Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

African Leaders head for Cote d'Ivoire

South Africa has announced that President Jacob Zuma will join other heads of state this weekend in a bid to resolve the Ivorian crisis, while a naval vessel which could serve as a venue for talks stands by off the West African coast.MORE

Ivorian Crisis Threatens West Africa

With the African Union intensifying efforts to resolve the ongoing political stalemate, concern is growing about the widening impact of the crisis.MORE

Radio France Internationale (Paris)Côte d'Ivoire: Clashes As African Leaders Arrive

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Ivory Coast Braces for More Violence Amid Protests and Financial Collapse

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DIJIBOUTI

Global Voices: Dijibouti

DJIBOUTI: ‘Guelleh step down and Somalia remove your police’ – opposition statement

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Djibouti's Government Says It Encourages Protests, Must Remain Within Law

Djibouti’s government said it believes rallies by political parties are a pre-requisite for free and fair elections and that a violent demonstration last week by opponents of the state was hijacked by “trouble-makers.”

One policeman died and nine other people were injured in the Feb. 18 protests by opponents of President Ismail Guelleh, Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Yousef said by phone from the capital city, Djibouti, yesterday. Opposition parties are meeting this week to decide when to hold their next demonstration.

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The U.S. has had a military base in Djibouti since 2001, while former colonial power France has 3,000 troops stationed in the country, which is smaller than the U.S. state of Massachusetts. The republic borders the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden and is seen as a strategic location in the U.S.-led fight against terrorism and piracy.
Djibouti ranks 148th out of 169 countries in the United Nations Development Program’s Human Development Index, which measures life expectancy, education and living standards.
An investigation is under way to determine whether opposition leaders will be prosecuted for the violence at least week’s protest, Yousef said.MORE

Pro-democracy protests reach Djibouti Actually, they've actually been going on for a while.


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Djibouti Opposition Parties to Meet to Plan More Anti-Government Protests

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SUDAN

Global Voices: Sudan A People's Revolution in the Making?

Feb 11, In Sudan, protests met with violent government response

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ZIMBABWE


Zimbabwe Arrests 46 for Watching Videos of Middle Eastern Protests