Ivory Coast: Tension ahead of final results

  1. Posted on Tuesday 2 November 2010 - 09:20
    KingsleyKobo
    Image of KingsleyKobo
    Kingsley Kobo, AfricaNews reporter in Abidjan, Ivory Coast
    Tension was high on Monday in Ivory Coast as about 20 million Ivorians awaited provisional results from Sunday's presidential election judged by observers as peaceful, free and fair. The elections commission (CEI) constitutionally has a maximum of three days to announce the complete results.
    Ivory Coast: Tension ahead of final results
    But its officials had promised to diffuse partial results as they trickled down from some 22,000 voting centres across the West African nation and in the Diaspora.

    However, only results from Europe, North America and some African countries were released by the CEI on state TV RTI on Monday, with former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara leading with 50.55%, followed by incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo 33.53% and former President Henri Konan Bédié 12.27%.

    But the scores constitute less than 1% of the electorate, which make them insignificant at the moment.

    Rumours

    Rumours were flying from one end of town to another in Abidjan by Monday evening. Supporters and sympathisers were sharing their scoops about results they had stealthily received from their party headquarters, prompting the CEI chairman Youssouf Bakayoko to intervene on TV saying nobody had any definite results, and called on rumourmongers to desist from their acts.

    Some Ivorians were also sharing their partial results on Facebook, Yahoo chat and Twitter, but most gave their preferred candidate a lead, which clearly throws doubt on the authenticity of the parallel results.

    There have also been rumours of armour tanks positioned at strategic places in the economic capital Abidjan. However, AfricaNews special correspondent for Ivory Coast presidential election Kingsley Kobo did not spot any tank while touring the city. But a heavy presence of security forces was visible.

    Graveyard country

    Abidjan and other cities and towns across Ivory Coast were absolutely quiet on Monday, with little or no economic activities taking place. Most people remained indoors glued to their TV screen waiting for election results.

    Taxis and buses were not in sight as usual but some personal cars drove around by midmorning but the streets became dry by early evening.

    Although Monday was a public Toussaint holiday, a number of Catholic churches had very scanty attendance.

    The CEI promised to release more results on Tuesday, with final provisional results to be out on Wednesday.

    The CEI put latest turnout figures at 85%.

Latest News

  1. OPINION: Welcome to African Green Revolution24/05For the past century and a half, Africa has tried various agricultural approaches without much success.
  2. Egyptians vote in historic election23/05Egyptians began voting freely on Wednesday for the first time to pick their president in a wide open election that pits Islamists against men who serv…
  3. Africa Day 2012 - a moment for reflection and…22/0525th May is Africa Day. For many years it has been a celebration of African unity. It dates back to 1963 when the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) …
  4. South Africa's African agenda21/05The Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa, Kgalema Mothlanthe paid a rare visit to Ghana in April at the invitation of John Dramani Mahama …
  5. Women struggle to rinse hunger, poverty stains21/05Just looking at her one clearly appreciates that she is old and frail therefore in need of support for food, clothing and shelter to live comfortably …
  6. Climate Climate change affects migratory birds…21/05Changes in the climate globally have affected the movement of both migratory and resident species of birds, Nature Uganda has said.
  7. Ghana: Foreign retailers cited for currency…18/05The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) is attributing the sharp depreciation of the Ghana cedi against major currencies to the illegal activiti…
  8. Kenya: Community radio brings succour to…18/05Korogocho, a slum in northeastern Nairobi with 100,000 inhabitants, had many of the ingredients for a political explosion similar to those that rocked…
  9. Veld fires 'flame' Zimbabwe's…16/05Over the years, Zimbabwe has experienced the scourge of veld fires destroying property worth thousands of dollars.
  10. Liberia commends ECOWAS for support14/05The induction training of pioneer Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Volunteers for Liberia kicked off in Monrovia, with the Deputy Mi…
  11. Vanishing Lake Chad puts 30m lives at risk14/05As you approach the Lake Chad basin from Maiduguri, in north-eastern Nigeria, the evidence of despair is telling.
  12. Heavy rains cause havoc in Kenya14/05Heavy Rainfall continued to wreak havoc across the country leading to the suspension of relief food in some parts of the country as most roads in Turk…
  13. Zimbabwe: Growth points lie dormant14/05The Zimbabwean government mooted the concept of growth points in the 1980s as a means of decongesting cities and towns.
  14. Sierra Leone improves in infant mortality11/05Sierra Leone has improved in infant mortality cases according to Save the Children- World Motherhood index 2012 report. The West Africa country descri…
  15. Zimbabwe: Resettled farmers fail to utilize…10/05Resettled farmers in Zimbabwe are failing to utilize land due to inadequate farming inputs and lack of resources.
News archive