Ivory Coast Elections: Who is the Winner?

[Kigogo]

nikisema watu tutwangane vita naonekana mchochezi ngoja nikae kimya tu ..nipige stori na nyanzala wangu maana naweza pata ugonjwa wa moyo kwa kufikiria mijizi hii ya kura

 

[SMU]

Ukishangaa ya JK, utayaona ya Gbagbo!

 

[Ikimita]

Rutashubanyuma;

Macho makavuu!! he cheats and doesn't feel remorse!! Ooh god, what a leader.

 

[WA MAMNDENII]

itachukua miaka mingi sana watawala wa bara hili waliopo madarakani kukubali matokeo pindi wanaposhindwa kwenye chaguzi, hii ni kwa sababu lengo la wao kutaka madaraka hawana nia ya kweli ya kuwatumikia wananchi bali kujali maslahi yao binafsi na kutaka utukufu, sasa inapofika wakati nguvu ya uma inataka mabadiliko wanaona wananyanganywa tonge mdomoni hivyo kufanya kila mbinu ya ubabe na kuchakachua matokeo ilimradi waendelee kutawala hata kama wananchi wamewachoka.

 

[Genekai]

Source: RTI (Ivory Caost National TV)

Tume ya uchaguzi nchini Ivory Coast jioni hii imetangaza matokeo ya uchaguzi.
Laurent Bagbo amepata 51.41%
Allasane Ouatara amepata 48.55%

hapana mkuu naona umeandika kinyume yaani tume ya uchaguzi ilitangaza kuwa Bagbo kapigwa chini lakini jopo la katiba ndo limetangaza kuwa bagbo kashinda. Kule kwa wenzzetu hakukaliki sasa hivi!

 

[ZeMarcopolo]

Ivory Coast's Constitutional Council has overturned earlier poll results and declared President Laurent Gbagbo the winner of Sunday's run-off... BBC.

 

[DAR si LAMU]

Umeona walivyojaribu kuchakachua ikashindikana? Kumbe it can be done.

...Who said it can not?

 

[Jasusi]

...Who said it can not?

Bado tuna njia ndefu. Wachakachuaji wameshinda tena. Just like in Bongo.

 

[Rutashubanyuma]

New Edict in Ivory Coast Sets Up Standoff With 2 Presidents

Issouf Sanogo/Agence France-Presse - Getty Images
An assertion that the president had won elections set off protests in Abidjan a day after a panel named his rival the winner.

By ADAM NOSSITER

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast - Defying international observers and the country's own electoral commission, officials tied to President Laurent Gbagbo on Friday declared him the winner of a landmark election in this troubled West African nation, potentially setting the stage for the kind of violence and division that the long-awaited voting was supposed to prevent.

The announcement, made by the Constitutional Council, came only a day after the country's top election official said Mr. Gbagbo's challenger had won the election by a solid margin, 54.1 to 45.9 percent - a result the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, also endorsed on Friday. The United Nations has a role in certifying the elections, and both Mr. Ban and his longtime special representative here made it clear there was only one winner of last Sunday's vote: the opposition candidate, Alassane Ouattara.

The conflicting declarations left the country in a strange limbo, with two men declared president, and on Friday Mr. Gbagbo's government found itself under increasing isolation, some of it self-imposed. It has ordered the country's borders sealed, blocked all foreign television and radio broadcasts - much of the population gets its news from French broadcasters - and imposed a strict dusk-to-dawn curfew.

President Obama issued a statement congratulating Mr. Ouattara. He urged "all parties, including incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo, to acknowledge and respect this result, and to allow Côte d'Ivoire to move forward toward a peaceful, democratic future, leaving long years of conflict and missed opportunities in the past."

The streets of this economic capital were largely deserted except for troops, police officers and occasional bands of chanting youth, some of them Gbagbo supporters. Shops were shut tight, anticipating the street violence - often mobilized by Mr. Gbagbo's camp, political scientists say - that sometimes accompanies political tension here.

Calls from Washington and other foreign capitals to respect last Sunday's vote, which was characterized as largely fair by the European Union and the United Nations, have multiplied. But Mr. Gbagbo showed no signs of backing down. State television announced that he would be sworn in Saturday as president.

For years, he ignored calls from abroad to hold elections, staying in office five years after his legal term expired by postponing the vote. On Friday, Mr. Gbagbo, a former professor and historian, appeared set to continue in that vein, with legal justifications for his continued tenure fully mobilized.

Paul Yao N'Dre, the head of the Constitutional Council and a close ally of the president, announced Friday afternoon on national television that he was throwing out vote totals from the nine departments in the country's northern tier - the stronghold of Mr. Ouattara - because of what Mr. N'Dre called "flagrant irregularities." At the end of it, Mr. N'Dre said, "Laurent Gbagbo is declared president of the republic."

Earlier, Mr. Ouattara's camp had drawn its own line in the sand. "Maybe Laurent Gbagbo thinks he can stage a new putsch in 2010," a spokesman for Mr. Ouattara, Amadou Gon Coulibaly, told a roomful of reporters here at the fading luxury hotel that is their headquarters. "But this doesn't change anything. The people of Côte d'Ivoire have spoken. Laurent Gbagbo is beaten."

Later, Mr. Ouattara declared himself the "elected president."

Years of political confrontation here, with its coups and countercoups, civil war, street violence and postponed elections, seemed poised to repeat itself. The country has been divided between north and south since a 2002 civil war, and it had been hoped that the election would unify it.

A front-page headline in a newspaper close to Mr. Gbagbo translated as "France's Coup d'État Has Once Again Failed," singling out the former colonial power that has been the target of the president's crowd-stirring orations in the past.

Late Friday, the few pedestrians out as curfew approached spoke anxiously, and sometimes angrily, about the standoff that was repeating itself in a country that was once a magnet for the region's immigrants but that now has steadily rising rates of poverty and unemployment.

The announcement that Mr. Gbagbo was the winner "is going to bring on lots of bad things in this country," said Charles Adou, 36 and unemployed. "Mr. Gbagbo doesn't want us to go forward.

Referring to Mr. N'Dre, who declared Mr. Gbagbo's victory, Michel Koffi, 28 and unemployed, said, "You put your friend at the head of an institution, you know what the result is going to be."

Analysts foresaw no quick resolution to the standoff. One unknown factor is which way the army, currently under Mr. Gbagbo's control, will turn.
"He's playing his all," said Richard Banegas, a political scientist at the Sorbonne in Paris. "He is extremely pugnacious, and he controls a lot of the street forces. He's gone into a Plan B, a strategy of tension, a kind of Mugabe plan."

 

[Masanja]

Jamani we can laugh..but these developments in Ivory Cost is simply tragic for the African race! I cant really understand whats happening in Africa. Where is the African Union to give its statement to condemn these undemocratic developments? I am seriously loosing faith with these African bodies which cant stand up to what is right. For what Gbagbo is doing is simply a day time robbery! What do we do? We shouldnt accept this. No way. Now if he knew that he wouldnt accept results why did he call an election in the first place? I really hope that Ivorians will have courage to stand up to this injustice being done by their leaders. For the sake of that country this guy should simply step down and leave it for others to take the country foward. Yaani watu hawana hata na huruma na wananchi wao? Its pathetic...Ooohh..mother Africa...

 

[Rutashubanyuma]

Ivory Coast Set to Swear In Gbagbo Despite Poll Row

Published: December 3, 2010

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Ivory Coast's incumbent Laurent Gbagbo is due to be sworn in as president on Saturday after his victory was rejected by world leaders but accepted by the army, raising fears of a potentially violent power struggle.

The top cocoa grower's election commission said opposition leader Alassane Ouattara had won a November 28 poll with 54.1 percent but the highest legal authority, citing alleged intimidation and vote-rigging, scrapped hundreds of thousands of votes on Friday to hand the victory to Gbagbo.

World leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama, the head of the United Nations and West African regional body ECOWAS all rejected Gbagbo's win and said Ouattara was the winner of a poll meant to heal wounds after a decade of division.

Ouattara's party has warned denying him victory would risk throwing the country back into conflict and won the backing of former rebels still controlling the north.

But Gbagbo's camp has rejected outside pressure, threatening to throw the U.N.'s top envoy out of the country and, according to state television, he will be sworn in at 1200 GMT.

Amid heightened tensions and reports from residents of gunfire as night fell in some neighbourhoods of Abidjan, the head of Ivory Coast's armed forces pledged allegiance to Gbagbo.

"We came to greet the president of the republic, to give him our respect, reiterate our readiness and allegiance and tell him that we are ready to carry out any mission that he wants to give us," General Philippe Mangou said on state television after being shown visiting Gbagbo with other senior officers.

The hotly contested run-off was due to cap the protracted process of reunifying a country that was once West Africa's brightest economic prospect but has been split in two since rebels seized the north after a failed coup attempt in 2002.

After a relatively peaceful first round, the lead-up to the run-off reignited divisions, with Ouattara winning most of the north but Gbagbo saying provisional results were marred by rebel-led intimidation of his supporters in the north.

The rebels deny the charge and Ouattara says the international backing shows he is the rightful president.
At least 15 people have been killed in election-related violence in the last 10 days but there are fears of more street protests in Abidjan while rebel forces in the north said they were on high alert should government forces attack them.

"I don't know what to think any more," a resident in Adjame told Reuters by telephone from the Abidjan neighbourhood.

"We just don't know who is president. The U.N. said it was Ouattara. (State television) said it is Gbagbo. We don't know where this will end," the resident said, asking not to be named.

TEST OF RESOLVE

Donors, led by the U.N., which was charged by a 2007 peace deal with certifying election results, have spent as much as $400 million on the election process.

Election observers confirmed that violence marred voting in parts of the country but said overall the vote was fair.

In what diplomats said was an unusually strong endorsement, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon congratulated Ouattara on winning the election and called on Gbagbo to cooperate in the transition.
Bolstering the response against Gbagbo, regional body ECOWAS, led by economic powerhouse Nigeria, supported Ouattara's victory. But diplomats in New York said Russia had blocked the U.N. Security Council from also doing so.

The lack of Security Council consensus on the U.N.'s position could encourage Gbagbo to ignore international pressure, making Saturday's swearing-in ceremony a first test of foreign resolve in challenging Gbagbo, who has been in power un-elected for the last five years.

Gbagbo long has enjoyed a position as an arch nationalist, so will be undaunted by foreign criticism and is likely to paint Ouattara as a foreign stooge. But diplomats say the U.N. could impose sanctions while a region increasingly attracting investors will be keen to quickly end instability.

Tensions over the election results had led to cocoa prices spiking and the yield of the country's $2.3 billion Eurobond, a bellwether of recovery hopes, rising.

(Writing by David Lewis; editing by Michael Roddy)

 

[Consultant]

Hata kama Gbagbo ataamua kung'ang'ani kiti, atapata shida sana maana USA, France, UN na hata majirani zake wa West Africa wameshatangaza kutomtambua.

Pongezi kwa tume ya uchaguzi kwa kusimama kidete na kutangaza matokeo yaliyo haki. Kumbe inawezekana

 

[Kishalu]

His wife telling him if he agree to fail he is not a real Man

 

[Hofstede]

Baada ya tume ya uchaguzi kutangaza mshindi halali yanayofuatia kwa sasa ni mapinduzi, yupo wapi Bernard membe na kauli zake kuhusu mapinduzi africa?

 

[Mzee2000]

Lazima sanctiions zianze mara moja na hakuna huruma hapa.

1)AU, Ecowas, EU na USA waweke Travel restrictions kwa cabinet yote ya Gabgo.
2)Nchi zote za afrika ziiwekee Ivory coast vikwazo vya kibiashara - hawa Gabgo ameitia aibu afrika nzima, huu ni uhuni wa kizamani hauwezi kukubalika katika hizi nyakati!!!

 

[Bi. Mkora]

Source: RTI

Laurent Gbagbo ndio ameapishwa muda si mrefu na sherehe ndio zimeisha hivi punde.

 

[Bi. Mkora]

Gbagbo sworn-in amid cries of injustice

Ouattara supporters in the streets of Bouake, central Cote d'Ivoire, 4 December
Reuters


By RFI

Laurent Gbagbo was sworn in as president of Cote d'Ivoire on Saturday despite rejection of his election victory. Meanwhile there was continued international condemnation of Gbagbo's re-election. EU chief Jose Manuel Barroso congratulated Gbagbo's rival Alassane Ouattara calling him the "legitimate winner" of the elections.

"In the name of the people of Cote d'Ivoire, we recognise you as sovereign chief," Youssouf Kone, a senior state official, said during the ceremony.

"Gbagbo came into the room, sat expressionless in a chair as the results were read out region by region and then he stood up to receive the oath office. He wrapped himself in the Ivorian flag as he received the oath," said Abidjan correspondent Marco Chown Oved.

"At the presidential palace we have every dignitary from across the country who've come to sit in the old chamber where the original president after independence, Félix Houphouët-Boigny, used-to give his yearly sum-up," Chown Oved added.

Gbagbo said he would "respect and faithfully defend the constitution" and "protect the rights and freedoms of citizens".

"Afterwards he received the gold chain which gives him the right to govern," said Chown Oved, who was at the ceremony. "He gave a short speech afterwards calling on his countrymen to not allow foreigners to interfere in their internal affairs," he added.

"I think this ceremony is totally illegal," Albert Toikeusse Mabri, a spokesperson for Ouattara, told RFI.
"We are not going to recognise Mr Gbagbo as head of state. The new head of state is Alassane Ouattara," he added.

There have been continued international calls for Gbagbo to step aside.

"My conclusion, by all accounts, there is one winner, who is Mr Alassane Ouattara," said United Nations special envoy to Cote d'Ivoire Choi Young-jin.

The Economic Community of West African States "urges all parties in the current democratic process to respect and fully implement the verdict of the Ivorian people and declared by the independent electoral commission," according to spokesperson Sunny Ugoh.

European Union Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said on Saturday that Alassane Ouattara was the "legitimate winner".
"I want to join the international community in congratulating Mr Alassane Ouattara and I compliment him as the legitimate winner of these democratic elections," he said.

"I am deeply concerned by the evolution of events in Cote d'Ivoire. I call on all political forces to respect the electoral outcome, to show responsibility and to refrain from any act of violence," he added.

Two people were killed by security forces on Saturday, according to the AFP news agency. At least 17 people have been killed since last week in election-related violence.

 

[Mzee2000]

Source: RTI

Laurent Gbagbo ndio ameapishwa muda si mrefu na sherehe ndio zimeisha hivi punde.

Kichekesho- african leaders have no shame.Wako tiyari kumwaga damu za watu hao ili mradi wanganganie kwenye madaraka - ni aibu!

 

[Bi. Mkora]

Cote d'Ivoire -
Article published the Saturday 04 December 2010 - Latest update : Saturday 04 December 2010

Continued tension in Abidjan

Ouattara during a news conference on 3 December
Reuters


By RFI

There was gunfire in Abidjan on Saturday as tension escalated following the standoff between Alassane Ouattara and Laurent Gbagbo, the contenders in Cote d'Ivoire's presidential election second round run-off. Residents reported gunfire in several parts of the city and Ouattara supporters began to burn tyres and build barricades.

Incumbent President Gbagbo remained defiant and state television said he was to be confirmed as winner of the second-round vote during a ceremony at midday.

Following the nightly curfew angry Ouattara supporters took to the streets. They set fire to tyres and used wood to construct barricades in the streets of Abidjan.

Ouattara had claimed victory on Friday and declared himself president-elect. Meanwhile Gbagbo was declared winner by the Constitutional Court, run by his allies.

The United Nations, European Union and United States have all urged Gbagbo to accept the result and make way for his rival.

 

[Ustaadh]

Rival presidents each sworn in after disputed Ivory Coast election

Opposition leader Alassane Ouattara is viewed as the winner by the international community, but incumbent Laurent Gbagbo, backed by the army, refuses to give up power. Separate swearing-in ceremonies are held.

Ivory Coast's election was supposed to reunify and stabilize a country thatrecently fought a bitter civil war. Instead, there was a bizarre standoff Saturday: rival presidents inaugurated in dueling ceremonies and different electoral bodies promoting different winners.

The U.S., United Nations and European Union say that opposition leader Alassane Ouattara won. But the Ivory Coast army is backing the incumbent president, Laurent Gbagbo, who refused to give up power when the country's electoral commission announced he'd lost.

It didn't take long for the Constitutional Council, headed by one of Gbagbo's close allies, to overturn the commission's results. And thus the twin swearing-in ceremonies Saturday.
The election and its chaotic aftermath laid bare the ethnic and regional tensions in the central African nation. Ouattara's support base is in the Muslim north, a region held by rebels and divided from the south from the start of the civil war in 2002 until a peace accord in 2007. Gbagbo is strong in the south.

With the country on a knife's edge and analysts warning of a slide back into civil war, the African Union has called an emergency summit meeting.

But although the African Union has always taken a strong stance against coups, it has a poor record in sorting out disputed elections in which presidents refuse to accept defeat.

The group's usual formula, used after disputed recent elections in Kenya and Zimbabwe, is a unity government that allows the president to stay in office and retain command of the military, while the opposition leader occupies a subordinate position such as prime minister.

The compromises may succeed in averting civil war, but they also create little incentive for any defeated ruler in Africa to stand down. And they tend to create divided, paralyzed governments in which neither side trusts the other.

Former South African President Thabo Mbeki, who mediated the unity accord last year that saw Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe cling to power, has been appointed by the AU as a mediator to sort out the crisis and plans to fly to Abidjan on Sunday.

Even if there is a unity government deal in Ivory Coast, the country may face international isolation and possible U.N. sanctions.

Taking the oath of office wrapped in an Ivorian flag Saturday, Gbagbo said he would not allow interference from other countries in Ivorian affairs.

"I will continue to work with all the countries of the world," he said, "but I will never give up our sovereignty."


.............................................................

AFRICAN UNION IS A TOOTHLESS TIGER!