Bishops in Ivory Coast Pay Tribute to Muslim Leader Known for Interreligious Dialogue

A retired bank executive, the late Cheick Boikary will be remembered for his role as an ambassador for peace and reconciliation in Ivory Coast.

In 2011, he served as Vice President of the Truth and Reconciliation Dialogue Commission in the aftermath of the 2010-2011 post electoral crisis in the West African nation. In 2015, he was the Vice President of the National Commission for Reconciliation and Compensation of Victims in the country.

In January, he launched an initiative dubbed “3 days of fasting for peace and social cohesion” following political tension in the West African nation.

 The Muslim leader also made a peace tour to the restive towns of Guemon, Cavally and Tonkpi, in the western part of the country.

Political and religious leaders have described him as a true defendant for the organization of the Muslim community of Ivory Coast. 

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“His outspokenness has always marked me. I was happy and proud to be with him in the group of 100 influential personalities of Ivory Coast,” said Fr. Éric Norbert Abékan, a Clergy of the Archdiocese of Abidjan in his tribute.

He added, “If the president of COSIM has received many tributes from politicians and religious leaders, it is because he fought for many years for the organization of the Muslim community in Ivory Coast, of which he became the leader on April 25, 2006.”

“It is with great sadness that I learned of the death of my friend and brother, His Eminence Sheikh Aïma Boikary Fofana,” eulogized Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara adding that the late Muslim leader “was a great man of faith, an artisan of peace and dialogue between religious faiths.”

Laid to rest May 19, Imam Boikary had been exiled in the United States from 2002 to 2006.

He was acclaimed by his peers for playing a key role in structuring modern Islam in Ivory Coast.  He is also credited for giving the Muslim community a real dynamism over the past four decades, notably by promoting the emergence of many viable community associations.