Death of PM Coulibaly: Abidjan residents express shock

Ivorians are mourning the passing of the country’s prime minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly.Days after his death people are still in a state of shock.

On the streets of the economic capital, Abidjan many have paid tribute to a man they described as a great politician. Nicknamed AGC, Amadou Gon Coulibaly died on Wednesday after he collapsed during a cabinet meeting. He was one of president Alassane Ouatara’s trusted confidants.

Ibrahim Dembele, a carpenter said of the deceased: “He was the RHDP candidate because he’s a hard worker, he was the one we were waiting for to complete the work done by Alassane Ouattara, so his death is shocking.”

For Sawadogo Mahamadi, a security guard: “Amadou was like our father, really, he did a lot for the Ivorian nation.”

“I was shocked because he recently returned home from France, so I thought it he was fine, so I was shocked to hear his passing,” Johanne Ibo Kouakou, a shopkeeper said.

61-year-old Coulibaly suffered from heart problems. He had gone to Paris at the beginning of May for medical check-up following a heart transplant eight years ago. The late prime minister stayed in France for two months before returning to Côte d’Ivoire on July 2.