The Ivorian opposition ‘Parti des Peuples Africaines – Côte d’Ivoire’ (PPA-CI) of former president Laurent Gbagbo, has denounced remarks made against one of its leaders after a visit to Burkina Faso.
The secretary general of the PPA-CI, Jean Gervais Tcheide, reacted on Thursday August 1, 2024, following a statement by the main spokesman of the ruling RHDP, Adjoumani Kouassi, who called for Mr. Kone Katinan, a leader of the PPA-CI, to be taken to task by the state.
“Kone Katinan must account to the Ivorian state for the mission he undertook in Burkina Faso. He deserves to be heard by the competent authorities,” said Mr. Adjoumani Kobenan on Wednesday 31 July 2024 at a press conference in Abidjan.
For Jean Gervais Tcheide, “what is being said about him is based on ignorance and political ignorance.”
Before explaining the purpose of Koné Katinan’s mission to Burkina Faso, he reviewed relations between
Côte d’Ivoire and the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).
“As far as I know, and as far as the PPA-CI knows, Côte d’Ivoire is not at war with any country in the AES, and they are not our enemies, to the extent that when someone goes there, they become persona non grata or public enemy,” he pointed out.
To date, “Côte d’Ivoire maintains diplomatic relations with Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. There is no rupture (…). So there are no problems between Côte d’Ivoire and these countries,” Mr. Tcheide sad responding to critics.
“Better still, I understand that the Head of State of Côte d’Ivoire has repeatedly invited the President of the Malian Transition, Assimi Goïta, to Côte d’Ivoire, and that representatives of the AES have been received here in Abidjan,” he added.
“More specifically, Mr. Katinan Kone went to represent Laurent Gbagbo, who was invited by a Burkina Faso association that wanted to honour him in the search for peace and even award him a prize,” explained Jean Gervais Tcheide.
According to Mr. Tcheide, the President of the PPA-CI “sent Mr. Katinan to represent him, and it was in recognition of the tribute paid to Mr. Gbagbo that Minister Katinan thanked his hosts and reminded them that the tribute paid by this association was not the only one.”
“Better still, the President of the Transition in Burkina Faso, Captain Ibrahim Traore, in a video that has gone viral, said that Westerners and imperialism are always deceiving us; and when they want to destroy someone, they blacken their image and make them appear to be something they are not,” he added.
Ibrahim Traore said: “who didn’t hate Gbagbo, we were lied to, we were made to hate him. When he said this, he of course recognised a long time later that the damage had been done and that Gbagbo had been the
victim of manipulation,” the secretary general of PPA-CI went on to say.
“The ESA countries, which are our brothers, are facing a major threat from terrorist attacks. What’s wrong with an African supporting his African brothers who are up against jihadist movements that are causing mourning and desolation in those countries,” asked Mr. Tcheide.
“For those who get on their high horse, to demand and threaten as they know how, we usually leave them and go on our way. Moreover, Gbagbo said it, the only good thing about ECOWAS is that it was created, and
it needs to be reformed,” he suggested.
“If you are tired of waiting for it (ECOWAS) to be reformed, if countries are leaving, then those who have stayed, if you want us to bring back the brothers who have left, it is not by shooting at them, by condemning them to oblivion that we will bring them back,” he said.
For the Secretary General of Gbagbo’s party, “when there is a problem, we must have the courage to identify it and deal with it as a community, rather than breaking the thermometer because the baby has a fever.”
Katinan Kone, who was due to defend his doctoral thesis in economics and management on Wednesday 31 July 2024 on a subject related to land tenure in Côte d’Ivoire, was unable to present his thesis due to a
student demonstration at the Universite Felix Houphouet-Boigny in Abidjan, the country’s largest university.
“If, by any chance, it was remote-controlled, then those who did it are as if it were a war in the winter, it’s absolutely pointless. Minister Katinan’s thesis will be defended, it has already been drafted, and if it wasn’t done yesterday, it will be done another day under the required conditions,” he said.
“I’m not saying that it’s remote-controlled, but if that were the case, you can wage war on individuals, but you cannot wage war on knowledge,” he added. Fesci, the main student union, stressed that the organisation is “apolitical” and seeks only to defend students.
