“Reconciliation is more important than elections”: Ivorian Cardinal Tells Politicians

In the statement, which he addressed to politicians, Ivorians and people of goodwill, the Cardinal probes, “Faced with such a disgraceful and dishonourable scene for our country and for Africa, can we honestly remain inactive and passive, not to say indifferent? Can we remain silent and let the present and the future of our country be devoured by sword and fire?”

Tensions in Ivory Coast, the world’s top cocoa producer, are rising along political and ethnic fault lines, ahead of the October 31 presidential elections.

President Alassane Ouattara’s announcement to run for a third term in the upcoming elections sparked violent protests in the West African nation. He had earlier declared that he would not run, expressing his support for Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly who died on July 8 reportedly of heart attack.

In the August 31 statement, the 74-year-old Cardinal says a “deleterious environment does not bode well for the organization of elections. Let us allow ourselves to be reconciled with each other! Everything else will take shape.”

He urges politicians and their followers to seek the path of dialogue saying, “I solemnly appeal to individual and collective conscience to put an end to violence and to make room for dialogue. I would like to invite everyone to go to dialogue and consultation, in the search for solutions to this crisis, which does not augur a better tomorrow in terms of the peaceful organization of elections.” 

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“Ivory Coast, our country, is a country of dialogue by tradition,” the Cardinal says and cautions, “Let us not put dialogue under the snuffles to take paths that do not honour our beloved country.”

“One of the means to go towards reconciliation is respect for the laws that we give ourselves much more than elections,” the Ivorian Cardinal further says.

For him, “only the search for the common good will enable the State and those who embody it to help citizens to know and respect the rights, freedoms and duties of all. If the right of the human person in general, and to life, in particular, is inviolable, it cannot be sacrificed on the altar of particular interests and of elections that are supposed to bring us peace and development.”

Turning to President Ouattara, the Cardinal Kutwa says that his candidacy in the upcoming election “is not necessary” and urges the Head of State to strive to “restoring calm in the country, bringing Ivorians together, taking the time to organize the elections in an environment pacified by reconciliation.”

“I pray that everyone, in the exercise of his or her responsibility, will have the wisdom to accomplish everything in strict compliance with the law. Injustice in any form whatsoever will cause the disorder. Only justice which recognizes the rights and duties of each person will bring us peace,” the Cardinal says.

He concludes, “May we, in a spirit of civility and consultation, give the law all its strength to help us live in justice, reconciliation and peace, with a view to a consensual organization of elections without violence.”

Jude Atemanke is a Cameroonian journalist with a passion for Catholic Church communication. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Buea in Cameroon. Currently, Jude serves as a journalist for ACI Africa.