Ouattara calls for return to civility in Cote d’Ivoire

Ouattara calls for return to civility in Cote d’Ivoire

President Alassane Ouattara of Cote d’Ivoire has called for a return to civility in Cote d’Ivoire, promising to institute investigations into the five-month political crisis that rocked the country.

Speaking on Saturday at his investiture, Ouattara said:”Ivorians are known for their hospitality and fraternity, not violence.”

The president, who spoke at the Houphouet Boigny Foundation in Yamoussoukro, said that many rights were violated in the post-election crisis and called on all the victims of the crisis to remain patient and seek justice in the right way.

Revamping sectors

Ouattara said the new government would speed up the path to economic recovery for the country, with particular focus on revamping the education and health sectors as well as infrastructure.

He said that he would pay particular attention to girl-child education.

Ouattara said the transport sector, especially the railways, would be revamped within a short period to bolster the business sector.

Commendations

The Ivorian president gave special recognition to the United Nations as well as the Nigerian and Burkinabe presidents for their intervention in the Ivorian political crisis.

According to him, the intervention of the international community guaranteed the return of democracy to Cote d’Ivoire.

He said the country had always been friendly with its neighbours, promising that the cordiality created by former President Houpouet Boigny would be resuscitated.

Ouattara paid special tribute to Boigny for laying a framework for the growth and prosperity of the country, adding that his successor, Henry Konan Bedie, also played a key role in the sustainability of the country.

Before his speech, the president was decorated by Henriette Dagri Diabite, 

Earlier, a former Secretary of the Rally of the Republicans (RHDP) and the President of the Ivorian Chancellory, Henriette Dagri Diabite, noted the president had distinguished himself both in the private and the public sector, working for the IMF as Deputy Managing Director and serving as a former prime minister.

Ouattara was declared winner of the presidential election held in Cote d’Ivoire on November 28, 2010, but his opponent in the election, former president Laurent Gbagbo,  refused to hand over power.

Gbagbo said the election was rigged in Ouattara’s favour.

The former president’s friends in the Constitutional Council declared him the winner and he was sworn in on December 5, 2010.

But Ouattara had earlier sworn himself in as president at a small ceremony at the Golf hotel in Abidjan on December 4, 2010, pushing the country into a political deadlock for five months.

The UN said more than 3,000 people were killed in the five-month political crisis which grounded the economy, especially the main stay of the Ivorian economy, Cocoa.

NAN/Williams