2020 in Ivory Coast explained

Events in the year 2020 in Ivory Coast.

Incumbents

• President: Alassane Ouattara
• Prime Minister
  • Amadou Gon Coulibaly (died 8 July)^[1]
  • Hamed Bakayoko (starting 30 July)^[2]

Events

January

• January – Groups are announced for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification in October. Cameroon and Ivory Coast will face off.^[3]
• 14 January – Authorities say they have rescued 137 children from Benin, Ghana, Niger, Nigeria, and Togo, aged 6 to 17, who were the victims of traffickers and groomed to work on cocoa plantations or in prostitution.^[4]
• 24 January – Tens of thousands are left homeless as homes in shanty town are demolished near Félix-Houphouët-Boigny International Airport.^[5]
• 31 January – Authorities in Côte d'Ivoire oppose the release of former president Laurent Gbagbo by the International Criminal Court (ICC) because his return would destabilize the country.^[6]

February

• 3 February – A three-day workshop of the "Sahel Women's Empowerment and Demographic Dividend" (SWEDD) begins in Abidjan.^[7]

April

• 28 April - Opposition politician Guillaume Soro was sentenced in absentia to 20 years in prison on charges of embezzling public funds and money laundering.^[8]
• 29 April - Ivory Coast withdrew from the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights, after the tribunal ordered the government to suspend an arrest warrant for Guillaume Soro.^[9]

June

• 11 June – At least ten soldiers are killed and six wounded in an attack in Kafolo, near the border with Burkina Faso.^[10]

July

• July 8 – Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly, 61, dies.^[11]
• July 13 – Vice President Daniel Kablan Duncan, 77, resigns for personal reasons.^[12]

August

• August 12 - Three people were killed in Daoukro in clashes between supporters of Alassane Ouattara and Henri Konan Bedie. The government announced a ban on protests late in the day.^[13]
• August 13 - A protester in Bonoua died during clashes with security forces, where a police station was also ransacked.^[13]
• August 21 – The Independent Election commission (CEI) of the Ivory Coast rejects the candidacies of President Alassane Ouattara and former rebel leader Guillaume Soro in the October election.^[14]

September

• September 13 – 2020 Ivorian presidential election: Former president Henri Konan Bedie is nominated for president by the PDCI-RDA and former prime minister Guillaume Soro is nominated by the GPS. Both are living in exile and their eligibility is questioned. President Alassane Ouattara announced his candidacy in July, despite a Constitutional prohibition on a third term.^[15]

October

• 17 October - The home of opposition presidential candidate Pascal Affi N’Guessan was burned down in Bongouanou. Offices of the Ivorian Popular Front in Abidjan were also attacked.^[16]
• 31 October – 2020 Ivorian presidential election: President Alassane Ouattara wins a controversial third term.^[17]

November

• 13 November – Six people are killed in ethnic fighting in M'Batto.

December

• December 6 – Charles Blé Goudé, 48, the right-hand man of Laurent Gbagbo, said that he plans to return home this month after being acquitted of charges of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.^[18]
• December 14 – President Alassane Ouattara takes the oath of office for a controversial third term, after winning more than 94% of the October 31 vote, largely boycotted by the opposition.^[19]
• December 23 – The Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) says it will participate in the 2021 Ivorian legislative election after a ten year boycott.^[20]

Deaths

• 5 January – Issiaka Ouattara, soldier (b. 1967)^[21]
• 19 January – Allah Thérèse, traditional singer^[22]
• 27 January – James Houra, 67, painter^[23]
• 16 February – Erickson Le Zulu, 41, disc jockey; liver cirrhosis^[24]
• 12 March – Mobio Besse Henri, boxer (b. 1977).^[25]
• 20 April – Marie Rose Guiraud, 75, dancer and choreographer^[26]
• 8 July - Amadou Gon Coulibaly, 61, prime minister (since 2017) and candidate in the 2020 presidential election.^[27]
• 17 July – Pierre-Marie Coty, 92, Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Daloa (1975–2005).^[28]
• 19 July – Seydou Diarra, 86, politician, Prime Minister (2000, 2003–2005).^[29]
• 25 August – Laurent Akran Mandjo, Roman Catholic prelate (b. 1940).^[30]
• 13 October – Marcel Zadi Kessy, 84, politician.^[31]

See also

• COVID-19 pandemic in Africa
• COVID-19 pandemic in Ivory Coast
• 2020 in West Africa
• 2020 in Nigeria
• 2020 in Senegal
• List of George Floyd protests outside the United States

Notes and References

1. Web site: Schams Elwazer and Simon Cullen . Ivory Coast PM Amadou Gon Coulibaly dies at 61 . CNN . August 22, 2020 . en . July 8, 2020.
2. Web site: Ivory Coast defence minister Bakayoko named prime minister . www.msn.com . Reuters . August 22, 2020 . July 30, 2020.
3. https://apnews.com/d3b0e8273d63191cf6706075a69641ed Cameroon drawn to face Ivory Coast in World Cup qualifying
4. https://allafrica.com/stories/202001140116.html Cote d'Ivoire: Ivory Coast Rescues 137 Child Trafficking Victims
5. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/ivory-coast-demolitions-shanty-town-airport-cleared-200124083634367.html Ivory Coast demolitions: Shantytown near airport cleared
6. https://allafrica.com/stories/202002020022.html Cote d'Ivoire: Government Says Gbagbo's Return Would Destabilize the Ivory Coast
7. https://allafrica.com/stories/202002030570.html Africa: SWEDD 2 kicks off as the SWEDD initiative goes to scale
8. News: I. Coast Opposition Leader Sentenced to 20 Years in Absentia . April 28, 2020 . Krista . Larson . . https://archive.today/20200429195546/https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2020/04/28/world/africa/ap-af-ivory-coast-soro.html . April 29, 2020.
9. News: Ivory Coast Withdraws From African Human Rights Court . . https://archive.today/20200430183514/https://www.bloombergquint.com/onweb/ivory-coast-withdraws-from-african-human-rights-court . April 30, 2020 . Leanne . de Bassompierre . Baudelaire . Mieu . April 29, 2020 . Ivory Coast withdrew from the African Human Rights and Peoples Court, a week after the tribunal ordered the West African nation to suspend an arrest warrant against presidential hopeful Guillaume Soro, who on Tuesday was sentenced to 20 years in jail..
10. Web site: At least 10 soldiers killed in attack on Ivory Coast border post . www.aljazeera.com . June 13, 2020.
11. Web site: Ivorian Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly dies in Abidjan at 61 . France 24 . July 13, 2020 . en . 8 July 2020.
12. Web site: Ivory Coast vice president resigns citing personal reasons . news.yahoo.com . July 13, 2020.
13. News: Four dead in Ivory Coast clashes over Ouattara election bid . . . August 13, 2020.
14. Web site: SANOGO . Issouf . Ivory Coast former president, ex-rebel rejected in election bid: official . news.yahoo.com . AFP . August 22, 2020.
15. News: I.Coast parties nominate former president, ex-PM for election . Sep 14, 2020 . news.yahoo.com . AFP . September 13, 2020 . en.
16. News: Ivorian opposition presidential candidate's home burned down . Toussaint . N'Gotta . . October 18, 2020 . Assailants burned down the home of a leading opposition presidential candidate in eastern Ivory Coast while one of his party’s offices came under attack elsewhere, witnesses said Sunday amid rising tensions two weeks before the election. A residence belonging to Pascal Affi N’Guessan was set ablaze in his hometown of Bongouanou amid clashes in the area Saturday. Meanwhile, an office belonging to his opposition Ivorian Popular Front party were attacked in the commercial capital of Abidjan..
17. News: Aboa . Ange . After Ivory Coast election, fighting comes to a once-calm town . November 16, 2020 . msn.com . Reuters . November 13, 2020.
18. News: Gbagbo's top aide says set to return to ICoast with ex-president . December 7, 2020 . news.yahoo.com . AFP . Yahoo News . December 6, 2020.
19. News: Ivory Coast's Alassane Ouattara sworn in for disputed third term . December 14, 2020 . aljazeera.com . Al Jazeera English . December 14, 2020 . en.
20. News: Ex-president Gbagbo's party says ending 10-year boycott of I.Coast elections . December 23, 2020 . msn.com . AFP . December 23, 2020.
21. Web site: Issiaka Ouattara, from rebel chief to controversial general . theafricareport.com . 8 January 2020 . 22 January 2020.
22. Web site: Le président Alassane Ouattara attristé par la mort d'Allah Thérèse . afrique-sur7.fr . fr . 22 January 2020.
23. https://afriquematin.net/deces-de-james-houra-lun-des-arbres-tutelaires-de-la-peinture-ivoirienne-sest-couche/ Décès de James Houra : L’un des arbres tutélaires de la peinture ivoirienne s’est couché
24. https://www.afrique-sur7.fr/438850-deces-coupe-decale-erickson-le-zulu Décès en France de Erickson le Zulu, l'ex star du Coupé décalé
25. Web site: Le triple champion ivoirien de boxe, Bessé Mobio Henry, dit Sonny, est décédé . yeclo.com . Hind . Talha . 13 March 2020 . fr . 10 August 2020 .
26. https://www.afrique-sur7.fr/440098-deces-marie-rose-guiraud-meiway Décès de Marie Rose Guiraud : Meiway est inconsolable
27. https://www.reuters.com/article/ivorycoast-politics-primeminister/ivory-coasts-prime-minister-amadou-gon-coulibaly-dies-at-61-idUSL8N2EF5B5 Ivory Coast's prime minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly dies at 61
28. http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bcotypm.html Bishop Pierre-Marie Coty
29. https://www.lemonde.fr/disparitions/article/2020/07/19/l-ancien-premier-ministre-ivoirien-seydou-diarra-est-mort_6046674_3382.html L’ancien premier ministre ivoirien, Seydou Diarra, est mort
30. Web site: Eglise catholique de Côte d'Ivoire: Décès de Mgr Laurent Akran Mandjo . yeclo.com . 26 August 2020 . fr . 26 August 2020 .
31. http://apanews.net/news/cote-divoire-deces-a-abidjan-de-marcel-zadi-kessy-a-lage-de-84-ans Côte d'Ivoire: décès à Abidjan de Marcel Zadi Kessy à l'âge de 84 ans