After engaging a lot of like minds and reading a lot about this Ivory Coast matter, I have made a lot of observations and tried to come out with a way forward instead of the continual bashing of left and right and of course the faceless evil that keeps hunting us all, the international community. Trust me, i have no idea what the heck that entity is. But anyway lets not bore ourselves with another West did that or West is doing this discussion.



MY VIEW

Gbagbo is no saint, kid yourself not my dear reader. The guy held on to power for almost 5years with no elections. He is just our typical African despot who is power hungry and never wants to leave. Ouattarrra on the other hand, had a chance to demonstrate he was a patriot, when he and Guillaume Sorro and his rebels split the country and could have stopped this. Gbagbo has allowed power sharing with rebel leader Guillaume Soro, he has accepted that Ouattarra run as a candidate even though many Ivorians question his citizenship. Gbagbo has made more concessions and more compromises than anyone before the election. Imagine that in the U.S. or France, a rebel leader gets to become prime minister or vice president. Where were the U.N. and all these other people then? Were they saying "no way, Guillaume Soro cannot be part of the government"? No, they condoned and pushed for all of these concessions and compromises. The safety of Ivorians does not matter to the international community, only their own moral victory and show of might does. The situation in Cote D'Ivoire requires truth and reconciliation dating back to 2002. What the international community(whatever that is) is doing in Africa should be condemned by all well meaning people of Africa. No matter which side you are on especially regarding this issue, dont be disillusioned by Western acts of sainthood. There are certain elements like the UN which is one of the most barren organisations or better still a toothless bulldog and waste of resources (Sorry, Kofi Annan). You all stoood by and watched the US go to war and test all their new gadgets in Iraq and Afghanistan like young kids with new toys and you STILL watch them do that. If China had gone to Japan to even drop an empty shell casing, the UN and all its facets will happily condemn China and of course the public will quickly be convinced on how "bad" China is.



THE WAY FORWARD



#1) Review the results. Make the review process transparent. Establish a clear plan or face saving strategy for whosoever ends up being the loser.



#2) If Allassane is declared winner after an open, public and transparent recount, Gbagbo has to agree to help Ouattarra re-unite the country by speaking healing words and saying "let us all unite behind our country and support our president Allassane Ouatara". You can't have peace unless it is done this way. Forcing Allassane on Ivorians without Gbagbo's support will create a terrible administration and presidency for Allassane. His life will be in constant danger and his goals will be difficult to accomplish with constant turmoil in the south which currently hates him. Allassane must also get rid of guys like guillaume soro who never even finished high school and is just a military thug, even in times of peace these kind of characters will always skeem. Having been pushed into prime minister, the only next logical step for the military types like Soro is presidency. mark my words.



#3) If Gbagbo is declared the winner then Allassane has to make an unequivocal statement saying "All rebels must immediately disband and disarm. I ask that northern Ivorians unite behind our president Gbagbo and help him rebuild our nation." without this kind of support, Gbabo will simply be presiding over the same turmoil he has been for the past 8 years. Gbabgo has to get rid of or muzzle a guy like Ble goude, although it's good to have a fighter on your side, when its time for peace talks, the fighter guy tends to just add fire and conflict to the situation.



#4)Nominate both men for the nobel peace prize for the avoidance of a potential genocide. The winner of the presidential dispute should bestow the highest medal of honor to the loser for being a patriot and peacemaker and for their service in helping to unite the nation. Another words, treat the loser well. Forget all the tribunals, and the retribution. Let bygones, be bygones. I believe forgiveness is a strong force. If this kind of peace is shown both of them stand to have powerful futures in international and african politics and they will always be remembered as national heroes and will change the course of African politics. Ecowas and African union can even give both men peace prizes and show them as shining examples of individuals who eventually put their country before themselves, and not by saying we'd rather die than hand over power but by saying "I can't have another death in my name, let us figure out a peace resolution"



In the end, the people of Ivory Coast will be happy and a greater good will be done considering the other options available. I believe time will heal the rest and life will go on for the good people of Africa. Lets solve our own problems and ignore the conniving ways of "supposedly developed" nations and their agenda. We CAN solve our own problems because WE have the welfare of OUR own people at heart!!



Kwame Opoku-Berchie

berchiek@yahoo.com