The streets of Daoukro are shrouded in muted sadness. The town in central Côte d’Ivoire is mourning its "baobab tree": Bédié, the former president of Côte d’Ivoire, who died at the age of 89 on the evening of August 1. Despite his advanced age, he was still the leader of the PDCI (Democratic party of the Ivory Coast), and it was in his fiefdom that he suffered a "slight illness." Evacuated by helicopter to the Polyclinique Internationale Sainte-Anne-Marie in Abidjan, he died early on that evening.
Immediately, supporters and activists of his party gathered at his home in Cocody to offer their "yako" (condolences) to the family. A ten-day national mourning period was declared until Friday, August 11 include, during which flags will be flown at half-mast everywhere. The mourning seems to overwhelm the whole of Daoukro.
"He was our old man, we’re very upset," said Jeannette Sella, a bread seller in the town’s market, speaking with difficulty and on the verge of tears. "He was my president. But everyone loves him here, including the Malinke people." At a nearby stand, another resident agreed: "There’s no Dioula, Bété, Baoulé people... There’s no such thing. He’s our father, for all of us. It’s our father who died."
Bédié was a local boy: Born in 1934 in Dadiékro, the "Sphinx" is expected to be buried in Pepressou, his family village just outside the city. It was in Daoukro, where he owned 1,000 hectares of plantations, that he used to escape the hustle and bustle of Abidjan. It was here, too, that he received PDCI executives and journalists for major party events. Here, too, he made the so-called "Daoukro call" in September 2014, announcing his support for Alassane Dramane Ouattara in the first round of the presidential election the following year.
The town’s main square bears his name. On its blue-and-white walls, the municipal painter has chosen to depict "HKB" and his illustrious predecessor, Félix Houphouët-Boigny. "A shared vision for the peace and happiness of the Ivorian people," reads the caption. "I wish the whole nation would stand up as one to mourn him," exclaimed Olivier Kassy, a passer-by, as he gazed at the fresco. "He was a mentor, a guide for Côte d’Ivoire, for the Iffou region, and for his village. He was everything to us." Does that mean he was irreplaceable? The elderly man smiled: "As we say back home, you can’t stay in 'magnan' to take 'magnan' away." In other words, first things first. To get rid of the ants that are biting, you first have to get out of the anthill.
Bédié’s death comes just one month ahead of local elections in September, but the issue of who will be his successor remains. On Wednesday, the head of state, Ouattara and his wife Dominique, the president of the National Assembly Adama Bictogo, and former president Gbagbo marched into the family residence in Cocody, a central district of Abidjan, to lend their support to the widow, Henriette Konan Bédié.
At midday, Ouattara expressed his "great sadness" in a statement read live on social media by Abdourahmane Cissé, the secretary general of the presidency. "ADO" and "HKB" have experienced everything together. They experienced the war to succeed Félix Houphouët-Boigny in the early 1990s, reconciliation during the crisis years, then alliance in the 2010s, and finally separation in 2018. Since then, the two men had remained political adversaries, but the Ivorian president hailed a "great statesman" who served the country "with dedication" and a "deep love for Côte d’Ivoire."
Gbagbo, also a rival and then ally of the man who was PDCI president for 29 years, expressed his "shock" in a press release. Like the others, he spoke of the "unexpected nature of this sad news" and announced that his African Peoples’ Party-Côte d’Ivoire (PPA-CI) would observe a three-day mourning period.
Of course, Bédié’s own party is not to be outdone. The ambitious Jean-Louis Billon, PDCI member of parliament for Dabakala, who has often opposed the great leader, shared a few words on Facebook. Another member of the party’s new guard, former minister Tidjane Thiam, shared a post on Instagram. For the time being and as stipulated by the texts, Philippe Cowppli-Bony, the party’s dean of vice presidents, is acting as the interim leader while a new election is organized.
Translation of an original article published in French on lemonde.fr; the publisher may only be liable for the French version.