I've had the honour on March 12, 2013 to debate on Al Jazeera's Stream, with Cameroonian writer Patrice Nganang, whom I know through our common struggle for the freedom of Cameroonian writer and Blogger Enoh Meyomesse , Vincent Hugueux, from French magazine L'Express, and my friend Mohamed Diaby, top-blogger and social entrepreneur from Côte d'Ivoire, about the myth or the reality of the end of 'Françafrique'. The greatesttrickof theDevil isto pretend thathe does not exist.The network of Françafrique has mutated, has transformed its political practices over the past twenty years. Let us not confuse a diplomacy that is normal, institutional and democratic with this network that is occult, escapes the democratic control and finally only serves the interests of a few.
I realized that a definition wasnecessarybecause weare dealing with acomplexsociological situation. the best wayto understand it, is to define it. Duringthis debate, I proposed this definition: Francafrique
refers to France’s political, economic
and media network of Influence, composed of African and French protagonists, in African territories where France had a
colonial grip. It must be specified that this Influence network is beyond the
control of French democratic institutions.
After the debate,my friendHamadou Tidiane Sy, Senegalese journalistand director ofthe School of JournalismEJICOMin Dakar,rightly advised metospecify the nebulous character of this de facto parallel diplomacy.
End of Françafrique ?
On this difficult question, on the one hand
you have the words, and on the other hand, you have the reality.
We all remember Nicolas Sarkozy’s speech the first time
he went to Africa as a president: "Françafrique is Dead, it is time to
begin normalized relationships with the former colonial empire." And we also
have in mind François Hollande last year pronouncing almost exactly the same
words in Dakar.
Reality is quite different:
1.Strong suspicions were expressed on the role played by the entourage of former President Sarkozy in the presidential election in Gabon in 2009. The lawyer and lobbyist Robert Bourgi, a friend of Nicolas Sarkozy, who boasted of being the successor of Jacques Foccart, omnipotent master of this parallel network during thirty years, was among the first ones to receive a Legion of Honor from Nicolas Sarkozy in 2007. Inthis video shot during the 2009 electoral transition in Gabon, he tells to a reporter of Panafrican TV channel Vox Africa about his support for his friend Ali Bongo. This video is a beautiful demonstration of what Françafrique is: on the one hand France and its official diplomacy say "we have no candidate in Gabon"; on the other hand, Robert Bourgi, a close friend and unofficial African Affairs advisor of former President Sarkozy, who listened to and followed Bourgi's opinions, says that his candidate is his friend Ali Bongo. Françafrique's official candidate was Ali Bongo, Ali Bongo won a contested election, followed by violence which left several people dead and caused riots against one of France's diplomatic mission in Libreville and other symbols of the French presence in Gabon.
2.On March 11, 2013 Newspaper Le
Figaro announced that Laurent Fabius, Minister of Foreign Affairs, dismissed the former head of West Africa Affairs, Laurent Bigot. This man can be considered as a
whistleblower: he criticised France’s Policy in West Africa, and specifically in
Mali, during a conference organized by French Think Tank IFRI in July 2012. He pointed out the fact that Malian so called and praised democracy was
just a façade, explaining that former Mali president’s first and second election were highly questionnable and everybody, including France, chose to
close eyes on this.
3.And last but not least, the CFA
Franc is an absolute non sense for the 21st century: 14 former French
colonies have their currency printed abroad, by the French treasury,and have to deposit 50 per cent of
their currency reserves into a so-called "operations account" managed
by the same French Treasury. In a recent paper, the African Development Bank's Bureau of Chief Economist recommends "the adoption of fixed but adjustable exchange rate regime with specific, transparent rules, which are well-known in advance." In other words, initiate areform of this unfair monetary institution.
These are just examples of the long list of Françafrique's harms. It is difficult to assert that Françafrique is dead. The situation is comfortable for the African protagonists involved - I am
thinking of heads of States whose legitimacy is questionned internally - but also for those in the French side who profit from this status quo.
But one
must bear in mind that for the 150 millions inhabitants of this
"sphere of influence", the situation is becoming less bearable.After 50 years, the paradigm must be changed.There
mustbein Francemorejudicial investigations intocases that involvemembers ofthis harmful network for the French society and for societies in African countries concerned.More trust should be put inrepresentatives ofcivil society, dialogue must be fostered withtheoppositions in these countries,andmost of all Franc should trustthe
collective intelligence ofAfricans; especially younger generations, 70 millionsunder-25 citizens who want moredemocracy andeconomic freedoms.
What's your opinion: end of Françafrique, myth or reality?
What is the future of freedom of expression on the Internet, at a time when in several parts of the world, governments (fr) are increasingly advocating for the control of the digital space ?
Internet activists, academics, and policy makers will discuss this issue on May 23, and May 24, 2012 during the Internet at Liberty conference, sponsored by Google in Washington DC.
I have the honour to attend the event, live from the Newseum. I am really looking forward to exchanges on this crucial issue: free speech online is particularly at risk on the African continent.
A livestream of the conference will be available on Youtube. You can use hashtag #InternetLiberty on Twitter and follow @InternetLiberty for updates, comments and questions.
Recently I had to write an article, and needed to find a very specific piece of information: the budget dedicated in 2011 by the Cameroonian Government to anti-poaching policies. I thought it would take me 10 to 15 minutes maximum to find it on the web. I finally did, by pure chance, after three hours and a half of unsuccessful efforts. This is precisely one of those moments when I ask myself "When will the government of my country be touched by the holy spirit of open data?"
Wordle 4 Transparency Camp 2010 - From http://digiphile.wordpress.com
What is open data?
According to the Wikipedia definition, open data is a concept based on " the idea that certain data should be freely available to everyone to use and republish as they wish, without restrictions from copyright, patents or other mechanisms of control." It is declined in various fields, but let's focus on governance. I strongly believe that every decision made, every action taken in the name of the people of a country should be freely and publicly available to that people. Data are the only tangible elements that the people has to judge, evaluate its satisfaction of the social contract signed with the government it elected to run the country for a defined period, i.e. hold its rulers accountable for their policies. The only limit to this assumption is national security, which should be strictly interpretated, in my opinion. When talking about open data in governance, one can directly relate it to the notion of transparency, which I believe is the key to political and economic development (fr) on the African continent.
The example of Intra African Trade
Dr Bitange Ndemo, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Communications in Kenya, makes in the following video the link between governance, open data and transparency. According to him, the continent could make 400 billion USD per year if it developped intra-trade. But such thing is not possible for the moment, because of a lack of public data in most African countries. Taking the example of maize, he explains:
"We need Africa to put their data out, so that we can eliminate the many middlemen that we have, [who] make the cost of maize impossible, and the trading within Africa impossible."
"There is no continent that needs Opendata more than Africa"
I completely share that vision. And this does not only apply to trade. In a world of transparency, Cameroonian citizens for example have the right to know the exact amount of revenues generated thanks to oil exploitation, or the exact budget invested by the Government to renovation of public hospitals (if such budget even exists), etc. So many questions we could answer thanks to data, thus so many problems we could solve.
Yes. But let's not put the cart before the horse: the concept of transparency needs real democracy to blossom. Whether Cameroon is a real democracy or not, that is another debate...
While Witnessing the current escalation of violence and hatred in Côte d'Ivoire, and with the publication of the Human Rights Watch report on 'Crimes againts Humanity perpetrated by Laurent Gbagbo's forces', I decided to write the following piece for Global Voices Online. As a human, it is my responsibility to witness and denounce those violences, especially at a time when more and more Observers and International Journalists are comparing the situation in Côte d'Ivoire to the "Pre-Genocide" atmosphere of Rwanda in 1994.
On the morning of Sunday March 13, 2011, a young merchant from the north of Côte d'Ivoire was visiting his relatives in the economic capital, Abidjan, on the south coast. The amulets he wore around his neck were characteristic clothing of the Dioulas, an ethnic group from the north of the country.
Sadly, these talismans lost him his life. According to a gang of youths, all supporters of Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo, they were fatal evidence that he belonged to an opposition "army of rebels". They tortured and stoned him to death. The incident took place in Yopougon, a district of Abidjan, and was filmed. The video was posted by YouTube user AfricaWeWish on March 15.
On the video you can see a crowd gathered around the young man on the ground. He has been covered in tree branches. After hearing that the man is from a Northern city of Côte d'Ivoire, people start throwing bricks at his face. An Ivorian blogger has confirmed that the man killed in the video was from the north.
At 00:44 minutes the assailant asks, "You were just passing by? Where did you come from?". The man on the ground replies at 00:55 minutes, "I'm a trader in Séguéla (in the north of the country)" and at 01:20 minutes they start throwing stones at him. This corresponds with the version of the story shared on the Twitter hashtag #civ2010. This is the link to the video, but please be warned these are extremely graphic images.
A city divided
Abobo and Yopougon are two districts in Abidjan, the economic capital city of Côte d'Ivoire. One of West Africa's largest urban centres, it is a city divided.
[caption id="attachment_208537" align="alignright" width="275" caption="Map of Abidjan showing Abobo to the north and Yopougon to the south"][/caption]Abobo has around 1.5 million residents and is mainly a Muslim district. As a result, it is a natural electoral base for supporters of Alassane Ouattara, the internationally recognised president after the December 2010 election who is from the Muslim north.
Yopougon meanwhile, with around 1.1 million residents, is the city's stronghold of Laurent Gbagbo supporters. Gbagbo, president since 2000, is widely believed to have been defeated by Ouattara in the public vote, but so far has refused to stand down despite international pressure. Since the election, violent clashes have been reported between supporters from both sides.
In both districts, different religious and ethnic groups had mixed peacefully until the beginning of the recent Ivorian political crisis. For the last ten days however, both Abobo and Yopougon have witnessed incidents of ethnically motivated violence, further crystallising the political dispute and the threat of civil war.
Since February 25, 2011, around 20-30,000 people have fled Abobo; on February 23, dozens of soldiers [fr] from Gbagbo's Security and Defense Forces were killed in the district by pro-Ouattara 'Invisible Commando' forces. YouTube user 2baz1 posted this video of people fleeing Abobo on February 27, 2011:
Théophile Kouamouo explains the background to the violence in an article [fr] on website Jeune Afrique:
On y trouve un cocktail politiquement explosif : une forte concentration de populations musulmanes originaires du nord du pays, vivier naturel de la cause « ouattariste », à laquelle s’ajoute une terrible désespérance sociale, conséquence d’une insécurité galopante, mais aussi de taux records de chômage et de séroprévalence.
There [Abobo] one finds an explosive political cocktail: a large Muslim population from the north of the country, a natural breeding ground for pro-Ouattara supporters, plus terrible social despair, the result of widespread insecurity but also record unemployment and disease prevalence.
In the meantime, in Yopougon where the Muslim community is the minority, a mosque was vandalised by young Gbagbo supporters. On March 14, 2011, two men were burnt [fr] on suspicion of being members of Ouattara's 'Invisible Commandos'.
Escalation of hatred
How did the country get to this point ?
The question of religious identity resurfaced on December 3, 2010, when the Ivorian Constitutional Council, in opposition to Electoral Commission's results, declared Laurent Gbagbo president by invalidating the votes of some 600,000 people in the northern, mostly Muslim, regions of the country.
Laurent Gbagbo and his wife, Simone, are both declared born-again Christians who are not shy about sharing their faith in a political context. On Simone Gbagbo's website [fr], religion is said to have an important place in the former first lady's life and political commitment:
CONVAINCUE QUE LE SANG DE JESUS QUI A COULE A LA CROIX EST PUISSANT ET PEUT SAUVER QUICONQUE CROIT, LA 1ERE DAME PENSE QUE PAR CE SANG NOUS SOMMES LAVES ET PURIFIES ET RENDUS CAPABLES D'OPERER DANS LA MEME DIMENSION QUE NOTRE SEIGNEUR AFIN DE TRANSFORMER NOS COMMUNAUTES ET POURQUOI PAS NOTRE NATION (JEAN 14: 12).
I am convinced that Jesus' blood, which was shed on the cross, is powerful and can save anyone who believes, the First Lady thinks that through this blood, we are washed and purified and thus able to operate in the same dimension as our Lord in order to transform our communities and even our nation (John 14:12).
One Ivorian native netizen posted a message on American politician Sarah Palin's Facebook page in December 2010, in which he urged American Christians not to let US President Obama standby without supporting the Gbagbos:
Will Americans idly sit on the side and watch their President humiliate Laurent Gbagbo and Simone Ehivet Gbagbo, a Born-again Evangelical Christian couple and throw them out of office or watch some Muslim rebels invade their palace and kill them with the conspiracy of the international community?
Sacha Project, a blogger [fr] who resides mainly in Abidjan, wrote a post on March 11, 2011, refering to French daily Le Monde's editorial of the same day entitled, "The future of Africa is playing out in Côte d'Ivoire" [fr], in which the author compares Côte d'Ivoire to the Spain of 1936 under Franco. Sacha Project believes that the comparison has a lot of merit:
Comme dans l’Espagne de 1936, un État se trouve menacé par une minorité armée refusant un pouvoir légitimement élu, (...).Gbagbo n’est pas Franco, Gbagbo n’est pas fasciste. Pourtant les idées du FPI le sont. Franco ne se disait pas fasciste mais se voulait « nationaliste ». Gbagbo se veut « patriote ». Le nationalisme xénophobe à outrance, l’ivoirité et ses chantres, les techniques de manipulations médiatiques, le discours religieux de Simone Gbagbo tenant le pouvoir de son mari pour un pouvoir quasi divin, sont les éléments en quelque sorte, d’un fascisme à l’ivoirienne.
Like in the Spain of 1936, a state is threatened by an armed minority which refuses a lawfully elected president (...). Gbagbo is not Franco, Gbagbo is not a fascist. Yet the ideas of the Ivorian Patriotic Front (FPI) are. Franco didn't consider himself fascist, but "nationalist". Gbagbo considers himself a "patriot". Yet the excessive xenophobic nationalism, Ivorian identity and its eulogists, media manipulation, and Simone Gbagbo's religious speech which considers her husband's power as quasi-divine, these are elements of an Ivorian style fascism.
Proof of the recent escalation of ethnic and religious antagonism in Ivorian society is more than visible on the web. Global Voices author Anna Gueye, demonstrated in a recent article examples of Facebook users who are spreading hate speech against Ouattara's supporters.
In fact, Facebook is filled with commentary and hate speech on the Ivorian crisis. Ebony Côte d'Ivoire shared on March 4, 2011, a video of a hatred-inciting song comparing opponents of the Gbagbo government to "Mossi" (mosquitoes) who should be killed with "Baygon" (insecticide):
The song literally says:
Little Mossi will die, we will pump Baygon
Youtube user AfricaWeWish posted a video of people singing and dancing to this song, the user showing their obvious distaste through the title given to the video: "Slogan for a future Genocide? We will pump Baygon".
"Mossi" also has another meaning, as explained by @Belligiani on Twitter:
Mossi c'est une ethnie du burkina faso, mais les Ivoiriens ont tendance a appeler Tout ce qui vient du burkina "mossi"!
The Mossi are an ethnic group from Burkina Faso, but Ivorians tend to call everyone who is from Burkina "Mossi"!
Mais mossi est utilise comme une injure pr les diminués!
But Mossi is an insult used for "diminished" people!
According to a local source interviewed via web chat, this song is popularly sung in popular pro-Gbagbo areas of Abidjan, like Yopougon. On Twitter, a user called @MossiDramane who seems to relish the strife and provocation, wrote on March 7 about Ouattara supporters mainly from the Muslim north:
Vos tueries selon sont autorisé par le coran.#civ2010
Les djoulas gawa lá on a ramené l'o et le courant.dansez un peu kè!!pidi pandan!!goumé+sipa tchié AGBANAN dèh!! #civ2010
According to a source living in Abidjan, who translated the quote, those words are clearly inciting hatred towards ethnic Dioulas:
Stupid Dioulas [ethnic group, from the north], we gave you water and electricity in the north. Come on dance now! Pidi Pandan [imitation of the sound of the malinké northern ethnic drum]! Goumé and sipa [these are traditional malinké dances], wow, it will be hot!!
Violence in the streets
In Yopougon, where a minority Muslim population is settled in the Wassakra neighbourhood, a witch hunt was organised against the Muslim population. On March 6, 2011, the Facebook group called "Ivorians on Facebook for ADO" (Alassane Dramane Ouattara) posted a video, in which young men can be seen being burnt, with tyres being placed on them.
The video (Warning: Graphic content) was also put on YouTube by user SAGEZELE on March 6 also, and has been viewed by more than 17,000 people.
The France 24 Observers website posted a comprehensive article describing what happened on that day, based on the testimony of an inhabitant:
The whole neighbourhood was talking about it, so I went to see. The two charred bodies were still in the middle of the tyres opposite the Siporex pharmacy, close to the Dabon Yopougon train station. All of the shops were closed. Whilst I was there people explained to me what happened, but it is difficult to verify their version of events because by the time I got there, there were only militia and pro-Gbagbo activists around. According to them, at around 5 or 6am, two men were stopped by the militia, who asked to check their ID. The men did not have their papers with them. They were taken to be pro-Ouattara rebels and the situation got out of hand.
An Ivorian politician, Seth Koko, who used to work with Laurent Gbagbo, posted on his self-titled blog on March 7, another description [fr] of the scene. An Anti Riot Brigade (BAE) car can be seen in the beginning of the video, which led Koko to conclude that the BAE, loyal to Gbagbo, was involved with the incident. He explains that at several times during the video, one can hear people shouting "BAE":
A 1mn 20 secondes, nous voyons un homme en tenue militaire, arme à la main, qui attise le feu sous les encouragements d’un assistant qui crie : « BAE !! »
At 01:20 minutes, we see a man in military outfit, a weapon in his hand, who fans the fire, encouraged by an assistant who shouts: "BAE!!"
le supplice du pneu en feu les miliciens bébégbagbos l'appellent article 125 : pétrole 100 1 boîte d'allumette 25
the burning tyre punishment, Babygbagbos calls the 125 [Francs CFA] item: gas 100 [francs] and a matchbox 25 [francs]
Ebony Côte d'Ivoire, commenting in one of her Facebook posts, confirms that pro-Gbagbo supporters have used tyres to burn those they call "rebels" [Ouattara supporters]:
(...) Rebel bastards! Since 2002 it's been them cutting people's throats, we burn them with tyres. (...)
Humans are not the only ones to have been burnt in Yopougon. In the following video posted on the video sharing site Afrobox.net, by user Abidjanais, a minivan is destroyed by fire:
[caption id="attachment_206560" align="alignright" width="258" caption="Gbaka van in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. Image from lgbagbo.blogspot.com"][/caption]
These minivans are called 'Gbakas', and are perceived to be mainly owned by the Dioula ethnic group from the north. The burnings are explained in this article [fr] published on February 27, on the website Connection Ivoirienne after the first occurrence:
Des ‘jeunes patriotes’ qui chaque matin, depuis le déclenchement de la crise postélectorale, font des footings à pas rythmés et encadrés par des hommes en tenue militaire, armes au poing, s’attaquent immédiatement à plusieurs minibus communément appelés ‘gbakas’ et susceptibles d’appartenir à des ‘Dioulas’, communauté ethnique dont est issu Alassane Ouattara.
'Young patriots' who, every morning since the beginning of the post-electoral crisis, jog surrounded by men in military outfits, weapons in hand, suddenly attacked several minivans, generally called 'gbakas', which are likely to belong to 'Dioulas', an ethnic group from which Alassane Ouattara originates.
D, an Ivorian who lives in Abidjan and who wishes to remain anonymous, when interviewed via webchat said:
My latest Global Voices article on the situation in Gabon. After the swearing in of André Mba Obame, the country entered a period of turmoil, which hasn't been reported in the traditional medias. After Tunisia and Egypt, are we witnessing another revolution in Africa ? Seems like things will not be the same anymore on the Continent.
"Protests in Gabon have failed to make a dent in the international news cycle as all eyes are still turned towards the Egyptian crisis. Mohamed Keita of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) was wondering if "fake news wasn't drawing real censorship" in Gabon, as he discussed the closing of the 1st private Gabonese TV channel, TV+. According to M Keita, the overreaction by the Ali Bongo's government is a sign of a deeper concern : what was considered ridiculous by Ali Bongo and his partisans before seems to have created subtantial political turmoil in this little Central African nation.
The rhetorical strategy of Bongo's camp seems to consist of the total denyial of the opposition party.
"Continuez de travailler et laissez les ridicules rêver."
"Keep on working and let the ridiculous people dream on"
Nevertheless, the situation appears more complicated: In the last five days, the country has witnessed excivil unrest. But IQ4News, a columnist style magazine website dedicated to African related issues, noticed that Protests in Gabon "have gone largely unnoticed by the media because of the focus on Egypt."
Mass Protests in Libreville and the UNDP building attack
Thanks to locally based activists, there has a been a coverage of the events, and the latter was advertised through different social networks.
Last saturday a demonstration was organised at Carrefour Rio in Libreville, the Capital city. More than 2000 Mba Obame's partisans went to protest against Ali Bongo's government and faced the public forces.
[caption id="attachment_192476" align="aligncenter" width="375" caption="Demonsration, Carrefour Rio in LIbreville January 29th 2011"][/caption]
This demonstration was followed by violent clashes between Mba Obame's partisans and Ali Bongo's Police forces, who were trapped by groups of demonstrators in slums near the place where the demonstration started.
The same day, Military forces were ordained to attack the United Nations Program for Development (UNDP) building in Libreville, where Mba Obame and his Government sought asylum. Camarade, a Gabonese activist, posted on his blog (fr) pictures showing some victims of the attack:
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="324" caption="Mba Obame's Partisan after UNDP attack 29th January 2011-(c) Camarade on LePost"][/caption]
Voice of the Gabonese people (La voix du Peuple Gabonais LVDPG) reports on its website (fr) that 2000 other persons demonstrated in Bitam (fr), in the North of the country, on Monday 31st January. On the same site, it is said that Riots occured in many districts (fr) of Libreville on 2nd February. In Atong Abè, one Policeman was wounded.
"Gabon:Crise politique:Soulèvements populaires en cours; quartiers pauvres de Nkembo, Cocotiers, Gare-routière, Atong Abè. Un blessé grave."
"Gabon: Political crisis: Uprising of the people happening now; poor districts of Nkembo, Cocotiers, Gare-Routière, Atong Abè. One serious wounded."
[caption id="attachment_192512" align="aligncenter" width="375" caption="Meyo-Kye, North Gabon, 2nd February 2011"][/caption]
"In Tunisia, Ben ALi left. In Gabon, Ali Ben Out."
[caption id="attachment_192499" align="aligncenter" width="375" caption="Cars burnt in Atong Abè, Libreville, after riots on 2nd February"][/caption]
Wave of arrest of sympathisers and executives
A dozen of executives ans sympathisers of the National Union (NU), main opposition party, have been arrested during the last five days. Koaci.com published a Press release by President of NU:
"A 5 heures du matin plusieurs compatriotes ont été arrêtés, brutalisés et transférés au camp Aïssa (caserne du Bataillon des parachutistes gabonais), puis au camp de gendarmerie de Gros-Bouquet, avant d’être finalement gardés à vue, à partir du 28 janvier, dans les sous-sols de la Direction générale des Recherches de la Gendarmerie Nationale et ce, au mépris de la loi qui interdit toute garde à vue au-delà de 72h."
"5 am several comrades were arrested, brutalised, and transferred to the Aïssa camp ( Barrack of the Gabonese Paratroopers' battalion), then to the Gros-Bouquet Police Station's camp, before being placed in custody, from 28th January, in the cellar of the Research General Direction of the National Gendarmerie. Doing this they violated the law which forbidds above 72 hours custody."
The Putative Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bruno Ben Moubamba, tweeted this morning about the kidnapping of the son of a Gabonese MP, Alexis Bengone:
"Organized Repression & Brutality in Gabon. Former Prime minister' Son kidnapped by hooded men. #revogab#egypt#tunisia#civ2010"
Some assume that his arrest is related to his online activism. He manages the "Gabao Res Publica" social network, and might have tried to raise youth with this article: "Gabon: A generation in quest of Democratic sense"."
Here is an article I wrote for Internet Without Borders website. You can also find a french version here.
Ivorian presidential elections Took place. After months of turmoil and wrangling, the Ivorians have taken part in the first round of elections held Sunday, October 31, 2010.
The holding of the first round in a calm general atmosphere was welcomed by most commentators in the mainstream international press and observers. New this year, online participation of many citizens of Cote d'Ivoire who organized coverage of the election day using the variety of tools available on the Internet.
Freedom of communication by SMS maintained
Contrary to the announcement of the Telecommunications Agency of Côte d'Ivoire (ATCI) last Saturday about the suspension of SMS, all means of communication were maintained. The regulator had proposed the measure for reasons of public order and to prevent the spread of "rumors". Prime Minister Guillaume Soro returned to this decision at a press conference Saturday afternoon. Maintenance by the Government of Freedom of Information and Communication in Côte d'Ivoire during the first round of elections would prove the political maturity of citizens and political actors.
"Let us solve all our problems in peace"
Note especially the initiative of Diaby Cheik Mohamed which reflects the general mood in the streets of Ivory Coast: the will to turn this election period in time of reconciliation. The Peacevote projectencourages site visitors to leave messages for peaceful Côte d'Ivoire. Site promotion was done by many voices of culture in Côte d'Ivoire: Aicha Kone, Ismael Isaac ...
CoveritLive on the site Avenue225
Israel Yoroba, a journalism student and blogger and his team of Avenue225, Ivorian information site, made the story of voting and the general atmosphere prevailing in various parts of Côte d'Ivoire. Coverage outside major cities brought a wealth of additional information. Throughout the day, real-time information of events was ensured by CoveritLive application.
On the social network Twitter, hashtags #civ2010 #wonzomai and #peacevote, typed hundreds of times, are also a source of information for obtaining real-time news on the election by the citizens of Côte d'Ivoire: For instance incidents in polling stations in the Paris area were immediately reported by Twitter usersvia their mobile phones. The user @ MaryMary225 reported pushings and damages caused in Créteil (France). Thanks to these elections, the Ivorian Twitter community has been strenghthened: New twitter accounts were updated and created, as notices by Twitter user Toussine
And many like Boua_7 describe the atmosphere in the country waiting for the results
Election results monitored and updated online
AlldenY, A french web dev and strategies company, put in place a website where citizens and others can find the results of the ballot as given by the EIC. Graphs give an interesting overview of trends.
The platform Wonzomai
The platform deployed by Akendewa and Internet without Borders, Wonzomai, is a new experience in Francophone Africa. More than one Thousand visitors were well connected on Election Day, less than a week after its launch. It has mainly contributed to the Ivorian citizen outside who could thus have a glimpse of the vital information collected via Twitter.
One difficulty, appeared: automatic replication of information received via SMS has not worked properly on election day for technical reasons. However, a manual transcription of major incidents and statements received was made by Internet Without Borders and Akendewa teams. Also the necessity to link the various election monitoring organizations on the ground and teams that operate for the platform became obvious.
What about Facebook ?
Hundreds of thousands of Ivorians are connected to the social networking site Facebook. As well as reviews and politics discussions occured among users, candidates have used the network to campaign, for instance the outgoing President Laurent Gbagbo, whom many users left messages of encouragement during the campaign. Ivorian Internet users have also shared their photographs on voting day. For example Nnenna Nwakanma subscribed on Faceboo who posted the link to an album created specially for the occasion.
[/caption]
