Members of South African-based political movement Trop Cest Trop (Enough Is Enough) insist that current president Alassane Outtara’s time in office as president of Ivory Coast is up, and that he must not stand for the forthcoming presidential elections in that country.
Trop Cest Trop is made up of political activists from various organisations across the length and breadth of the African continent who are concerned by the shenanigans perpetuated by African leaders at the expense of the hapless citizens of the continent in many countries.
Outtara came into power as president of Ivory Coast on 4 December 2010.
The Constitution of Ivory Coast originally allowed anyone to serve for only two terms but Outtara changed the Constitution in 2020 to allow him to stand for a third term.
Now Outtara wants to change the Constitution yet again to allow him to stand for an unprecedented fourth term.
Trop Cest Trop then marched to the Ivory Coast embassy this past Saturday in protest to register dissatisfaction regarding the possibility of Outtara assuming power for the fourth successive term.
King Kabala from the Democratic Republic of Congo and a member of the African Continental Unity Party told Tshwane Talks that he is supporting the protest march as there is tyranny in Ivory Coast perpetuated by President Alassane Outtara who wants to remain in power forever.
“Besides fighting against Outtara being in power for a long time, we are also concerned about the living conditions of the people of Ivory Coast and though Ivory Coast produces many products including cocoa, the people of Ivory Coast benefit nothing from this product as all profits go to international companies, mainly those that are based in France,” lamented Kabala.
“Cocoa farmers in Ivory Coast only get 5% from the multi-million rand cocoa industry, yet they are the ones on whose toil the international chocolate industry thrives,” he said.
“Outtara, like many African presidents, is an agent of the West and he takes all the wealth of Ivory Coast to his masters in the Western world while children of Ivory Coast can’t afford health care and basic education,” said Kabala.
International Secretary for the Zimbabwean Communist Party Ian Beddowes said besides supporting ideas espoused by erstwhile political philosophers Karl Marx and Engels, they subscribe to the late Ghanaian president Kwame Nkrumah’s idea that Africa must take responsibility for its own economy.
“Outtara is a puppet of the French Colonialists and is being used to destabilise Sahara countries like Burkina Faso, who have broken ties with Colonial power France and for him to stand again for elections in Ivory Coast is just terrible, and my message to him is that he must commit suicide now because he will ultimately be forced out of power in an ignoble manner,” said Beddowes.
“As Africans we are not enjoying our resources and Outtara must stop what he is doing because we are going to remove him from power; just like the people of Madagascar removed their president from power; there will be blood in all countries like Zimbabwe, Ivory Coast and Cameroon because they are being ruled by dictators,” said Amos Dumba from Zimbabwe.
Leader of Ligue defense noire Africaine in Cameroon told Tshwane Talks that it is time Africans united to fight against dictatorships and misrule in all African countries and that a situation whereby for example Zimbabweans are left to fight alone and Cameroonians and Ivory Coast citizens are left to fight in isolation must be a thing of the past,” he said.
Jean Oyourou from Ivory Coast said what is happening in Ivory Coast is morally wrong and unconstitutional and that he marched to the Ivory Coast embassy to let the government of Ivory Coast hear their grievances.
“President Outtara, you have done your work, now please leave office,” he enthused.
Trop Cest Trop RSA’s representative Jean Michael Gouman said Outtara has been in power for fifteen years now and is preventing capable candidates from taking over as presidents of Ivory Coast.
“All gatherings and political activities have been banned in Ivory Coast and it is only Outtara and his cohorts who are allowed to participate in political activities,” lamented Gouman.
“We want to reclaim our country back because at the moment ordinary citizens of Ivory Coast have been marginalised from all spheres of life in that country,” he said.
In a nutshell, Trop Cest Trop demands are as follows:
1. No fourth presidential term for current incumbent Alassane Outtara.
2.Respect for the Constitution which allows only two consecutive terms.
3.The immediate release of all political prisoners and activists.
4. Free, fair and inclusive elections in Ivory Coast.
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