@ Makbo,

Let's assume you're not Gbagbo's spokesperson, you really are good at presenting a one-sided perspective. But my concern is the country itself, the political and economic devastation inflicted on the people because of personal ambitions. Unfortunately it is not the elite that suffer. have you seen images of the rising refugee problem?

gbagbo is no different from other african leaders. in 2007, we saw how a single man selected and imposed two dullards on us and nothing happened.
since jonathan took over govt, many will agree with me that nigeria has lost more lives than the troubled ivory coast.
when a president who swore an oath to protect our lives and properties watch us die in riots, kidnapping and accidents everyday, he can be termed a failure.
bombs and bombings have become a culture in our own nigeria that we call peaceful.
what gbagbo is doing in abidjan is just as good as rejection of oposition and that is exactly what pdp is doing back home. gbagbo has been the president for 12 yrs and pdp have been arround for 12 yrs.
in all, the same group of criminals are still in charge.
we saw how the inec woman in ekiti took to her heels when water pass garri and we all saw how she announce the results under durex. jega is ready to resign now but jonathan is saying, u must do it.
let us pray that it will not go beyond what we have been seeing.

superboi:

When people like you realize that transplanting western system to people with different values and customs is like giving a goat a human heart or vice versa then we would have a Government models that works. This western democracy thing can't work in our society not because we are less or more superior, but it not just our thing.

What is our thing?
dictatorship?
civil wars?

dude, democracy is overated but until you can espouse a better option,we have to make it work.
the reasons why it is not working here is largely due to the lack of strong institutions and the overwhelming presence of selfish,power drunk and greedy leaders who never for a moment think of anyone else but themselves and their pockets.
They don't even pretend to.
That is why it is not working in the continent.
The bashing of democracy is short sighted and overly simplistic.
Look at South Africa.The reason why that country has not tipped over is because of strong institutions that are still limiting greedy,selfish leaders who are exploiting every available opportunity to rape the country dry.
The moment they are able to weaken and destroy the strong institutions they inherited, someone will say democracy does not work there too.
I am no supporter of Quattara but i could not care less if Gbagbo rots in hell.
killing your people to remain in power can never be justified.
at least no one claimed he won the elections.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12981942 he didnt surrender

Look at people crucifying Gbagbo as if Ouattara is much better. Did he really win the elections? He is slaughtering his people, I guess he should also be tried for war crimes.

Between the devil and the deep blue sea. . . God help Ivory Coast!!

mbulela:

What is our thing?
dictatorship?
civil wars?

dude, democracy is overated but until you can espouse a better option,we have to make it work.
the reasons why it is not working here is largely due to the lack of strong institutions and the overwhelming presence of selfish,power drunk and greedy leaders who never for a moment think of anyone else but themselves and their pockets.
They don't even pretend to.
That is why it is not working in the continent.
The bashing of democracy is short sighted and overly simplistic.
Look at South Africa.The reason why that country has not tipped over is because of strong institutions that are still limiting greedy,selfish leaders who are exploiting every available opportunity to violation the country dry.
The moment they are able to weaken and destroy the strong institutions they inherited, someone will say democracy does not work there too.
I am no supporter of Quattara but i could not care less if Gbagbo rots in hell.
killing your people to remain in power can never be justified.
at least no one claimed he won the elections.

Mbubela please read what I wrote well!! I wrote Western Democracy,
We can probably evolve our own effective model(like the Asian) if we take the time to define who we really are by define what is the true purpose of what our various countries are.

^^^^^^
noted,my apologies
but i hope our version of democracy must also include accepting election results?

mbulela:

^^^^^^
noted,my apologies
but i hope our version of democracy must also include accepting election results?

Definitely and also the right to appeal result with evidence.

this is just gbagbo being purnished here by france because he refused to play a slave to them, this is mordern colonialism at play here, for those of you heapin insults on gbagbo, go and make an in-dept sturdy of the situation in ivory coast before u make ur comment,

gidson12:

this is just gbagbo being purnished here by france because he refused to play a slave to them, this is mordern colonialism at play here, for those of you heapin insults on gbagbo, go and make an in-dept sturdy of the situation in ivory coast before u make your comment,

why don't you give us a synopsis of your own in-depth study, and your own comment about the situation?

deelobe:

xterra2 thank you I was wondering too because I have been following the politics in Ivory Coast. Gbagbo's tenure was made unbearable by France because he refused to succumb to their wishes. If you have been to French Africa you will observe something the leaders are only stooges for France. SO the issue of Gbagbo did not start with the election its been long. That is why Quatrra who is a known rebel was sponsored by these people. They didnt care what happens to the people.

Let us wait and see what will happen

What tenure?

over 10 years ago the sitting president (Guei) announced his victory in the elections. Gbagbo himself claimed victory and led a popular revolt that ousted Guei from power.
This is poetic justice now that the shoe is on the other foot. His tenure should have elapsed since 2005, the goat managed to secure two extensions to 2008, then managed to postpone the elections to 2010. Isn't the fellow tired of power?!

superboi:

Definitely and also the right to appeal result with evidence.

so why is Gbagbo not appealing with evidence an election that he is widely believed to have lost?
why is he holding the country hostage?
whether Quattara is a stooge or not, if Gbagbo had conceeded the election and proceeded to appeal, do you truly think the blood of the masses would have been so aimlessly spilled?
He loves Ivory Coast so much that his desire for power is worth blood?

Gore beat Bush as was widely believed but he chose not to pursue a case tht could cause yield a constitutional crisis and decided that it was not worth it?
when will we have African democracy that would com to terms with the fact that their desires are secondary in the scheme of things?
I hope the kind of home grown democracy you are imagining is not the c rap that was done in Kenya where Kabaki lost but the AU in an invention of African type of democracy decided that the loser and the winner should share power and form a govt?
whatever form of democracy we settle for in Africa, it must be a form that makes the will of the people paramount and the wil and desires of politicans must be a distant second.Anything else is a farce, simplistic and will always end in bloodshed.

gbagbo does not deserve to be buried, he has to  be tried locally and set an example of future leaders, if they let him leave he will live comfortably somewhere in europe, hang him and don't even bury him

true talk o, why must the west always think we should be forced to follow their system of leadership?

i think africans need to find their own style of leadership that caters to their special needs, talk about:

1. "jujucracy".  the most powerful juju man alive becomes president after he wins a juju contest.

2. "egocracy". the richest man in nigeria becomes president.

3. "professorcracy".  the most learned nigerian becomes president etc


Just suggesting,

what ever we say, Gbagbo time is up, and he should realize that he is dealing with mighty powers. he has no one to support him. he should just surrender if he still cherish his life.

Dede1:

Africans shall remain “mumu” for a very long time. Democracy is the tool of neo-colonialism in 21st century as Christianity and Civilization were tools of colonialism in 19th century. When did it become the function of UN to conduct and announce the election results of sovereign nations?

To be honest with you,I have never seen democrazy as the best thing to happen to Africa because it was forced on us by the imperiaists who have always look for a good reason to justify their presence in Africa and the exploitation of their resources.I wondered how Africa would have been treated if they have no resources that can be exploited.we've seen where the so called allies intervened in the internal affairs of sovereign states not because they cared about the citizens of such states but for he protection of their interests in such places while they neglected those that don't have anything to offer them in return for their intervention.
We cannot solve Africa problems with European solutions and until Africans themselves chose their future by critically evaluating their pre-colonial success before they can free themselves from the shackles of the europeans.these are the same people that brought slavery ,colonialism and now,democrazy ;all to justify their presence in Africa.Africa culture is unique to them and must be respected;therefore,we must say no to so called european civilization that has brought nothing but backwardness to Africa.

Ndipe:

So, which is the best form of political government might be best suited to the interests of Africa?

Very simple !
Before the coming of the british to Nigeria,the oyo traditional political system was a semi-diffused one where the Alaafin served as the oba and the oyo-mesu acted as his advisers and also played a roles of check and balance on him to avoid absolutism;they also have the power to depose him or commit him to suicide in case of abuse of office.
the sokoto caliphate and bini kingdom on the other hand had a diffused system of government where the sultan or oba remains the sole authority over their subjects respectively while the ibo were egalitarian in nature;practising their own local democracy until when the british brought confusion,fused everybody together becauseof their own selfish interest and forced democracy on a people with existing political system and culture.the end game of democrazy is the problem is Africa today because it is alien to them !

Emperoh:

I am really not impressed with the way you have chosen to address this issue in as much as i buy so much into your idea. Insulting people who do not see things your way doesn't present you as a person with an intention to 'enlighten'. The way they have argued and the way you have argued equally haven't shown equally any particular depth to the issue but merely someone taking a different view to an issue and then being unnecessarily angry to with other people's views.

You see, much as i strongly detest the imperialism and bias being unabashedly portrayed by the west, i still blame most African and Arab leaders for giving the west an instrument to fight them. You could well see issues of sit-tight, dictatorship and high-handedness and you are asking yourself if they are really fighting for their people?

My dear, it is just a cocktail of selfish interests masquerading as public interests just to get a personal hold on a country's natural resources for themselves and their cronies. If they were so much as fighting for the people, i ask, why not groom a person of equal or like mind and get him or her to take over when his tenure is done.

But we see constitution amendment and unnecessary media propaganda when the time to step aside comes. African leaders need to learn and become more intelligent. The Western Media is so strong that people latch on to it for information- dependency theory- to get by politically. It is therefore left for them to realise the likely scenarios that will play out and avoid them. They are the ones who will open up themselves to these people in the first instance and neglect their people? You cited the case of Mugabe and am wondering what a leader still has to offer after 31 years!!! Is there no other person in the whole of Zimbabwe who can do much better than he can while maintaining the anti-imperialism stance he has?

It is still African leaders who invite and partner with these westerners. Why do they loot us blind? Why are they even the first to get information not available to local journalists? If we can't rise above pecuniary interests and fight for a common good, the imperialists will keep latching on to bad governance to return to Africa. Our leaders need to be more intelligent than they currently are!!

jaw jaw:

I thought the man said he would never surrender. The time has come and he can't die fighting for what he believes in yet he allowed a war to rage on and consume innocent civilians. Gbagbo is nothing but a typical chicken livered-sit tight african leader who will normally make all the noise when he has the oppurtunity and crumble when the chips are down.

What surprises me most is our attitude to blame Europe and America everytime we have a problem in Africa. We shout western Imperialism when we look for an excuse and can't find one.

Gbagbo has been in power since 2000 (over 10 years) and what has he achieved within this period? Was he not supposed to negotiate peace and unite his country men in the 10 years if he really cared about them?

If he really didnt lose the 2010 election, was his ambition to remain president worth the war and resulting deaths of his people? ECOWAS and AU leaders negotiated several times with him to find a political solution and the man refused blatantly each time and yet we blame western imperialist.

It only takes a blind and selfish man like Gbagbo not to realise that when the world is against you, you can never win. The UN had declare that Ouattara won the elction, the EU and America agreed with them. Even his fellow African leaders had followed suit and yet the man still clung to power like it was his birth right. Thats pure foolishness and high level stupidity. As far as I am concerned the man should not be allowed to go free. He should pay for allowing this war to happen and for the deaths of his fellow Ivoriens who did not deserve to die because of his greed and selfishness.

The only way to fight the so called Western Imperialism is to build your economy to match their own and unite your people. With your people solidly behind you you can then fight the west with your economy and economic fundamentals. If you attempt to go to war with them you will NEVER win. They have the money to fund a war that will last several years and are way ahead technologically especially in war technology. They will come to your land and test their new bombs, fighter jets amd war equipment knowing fully well that they had previously sold older versions to you (they also intend to sell these new war equipments to you later). At the end of the war, when they have damage your country and its infrastructure with their bombs, they will recoup their war expenses from your economy which means you have lost two times over (Iraq and Libya are simple examples).

1025:

gbagbo is no different from other african leaders. in 2007, we saw how a single man selected and imposed two dullards on us and nothing happened.
since jonathan took over govt, many will agree with me that nigeria has lost more lives than the troubled ivory coast.
when a president who swore an oath to protect our lives and properties watch us die in riots, kidnapping and accidents everyday, he can be termed a failure.
bombs and bombings have become a culture in our own nigeria that we call peaceful.
what gbagbo is doing in abidjan is just as good as rejection of oposition and that is exactly what pdp is doing back home. gbagbo has been the president for 12 yrs and pdp have been arround for 12 yrs.
in all, the same group of criminals are still in charge.
we saw how the inec woman in ekiti took to her heels when water pass garri and we all saw how she announce the results under durex. jega is ready to resign now but jonathan is saying, u must do it.
let us pray that it will not go beyond what we have been seeing.

the best answers on this thread.

Gbagbo is a mad man.let him stay in power since it is his birth right.I will pay the price all the lives lost.

And that ends another era. . .Gbago has been Gbagboed.

the truth about these''''/// is that he have not accepted defeat. but there was a hit near his resident this morning.correspondant from aljazerra english

mbulela:

so why is Gbagbo not appealing with evidence an election that he is widely believed to have lost?
why is he holding the country hostage?
whether Quattara is a stooge or not, if Gbagbo had conceeded the election and proceeded to appeal, do you truly think the blood of the masses would have been so aimlessly spilled?
He loves Ivory Coast so much that his desire for power is worth blood?

Gore beat Bush as was widely believed but he chose not to pursue a case tht could cause yield a constitutional crisis and decided that it was not worth it?
when will we have African democracy that would com to terms with the fact that their desires are secondary in the scheme of things?
I hope the kind of home grown democracy you are imagining is not the c rap that was done in Kenya where Kabaki lost but the AU in an invention of African type of democracy decided that the loser and the winner should share power and form a govt?
whatever form of democracy we settle for in Africa, it must be a form that makes the will of the people paramount and the wil and desires of politicans must be a distant second.Anything else is a farce, simplistic and will always end in bloodshed.

Mbubela, Gbagbo did appeal and won the appeal at the constitutional court as required by the agreement signed by all parties to the election in South Africa in 2006(Then RSA president Thabo Mbeki was against the agreement predicting that it can't work unless rebels are disarmed before the elections, and the constituted membership of the electoral commission(highly pro Quatara) and the constitutional court(Pro Gbagbo) be changed, But the UN and France had other Ideas(yea yea am blaming the west again). This election was doomed to fail from the start, What result did we expect when a sitting president who has half of the country as his Ethnic group runs against A rebel leader whose Ethnic group forms the other half? Of course a disputed election. If the UN were a serious organiztion and not a body of weapon dealers and contractors they would have insisted in mediating and solving the Ethnic issues first before asking for elections, as Mbeki and co recommended.

ABOUT TO QUIT TODAY, NOT HAVE ALREADY QUIT

---

WATCHING IT NOW ON ALJAZEERA

Koudou is a master planner , he has all these plan if you remember is campaign slogan 'on gagne ou on gagne' . U guy should just relax.

Not given up yet

Still holed up in his bunker

Guardian's got a live blog on Ivory Coast

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/apr/06/ivory-coast-laurent-gbagbo-live

not given up yet, Will surely do so the hard way

Gbagbo should be shot the moment any reasonable person gets the opportunity. This is someone who ruled Ivory coast for 10 years(5 legal another 5 illegal),still clinging i to power like its a birthright.

He's talking about dialogue when not less than 6 sitting heads of state or Governments in Africa have visited ,encouraging him to leave with his dignity intact.

Even our own infamous OBJ (well known for his own rigging capabilities) went there to talk him away from his recalcitrance & stubborness.

Gbagbo typifies the African mentality towards election - do or die. And I strongly feel he will die in this own.

F** beast of no nation.

Who gave France the mandate to bomb a sovereign countries seat of govt and occupy the airport. Tha massacre of Christians in Duokoue by Ouattaras Muslim forces has become a source of embarassment to the international community with even the US Govt and UN denouncing publicly. Americans citizens are wondering why several UN staff were beaten to death and beheaded and in Afghanistan last week over the burning of the Koran by an obscure pastor and the western media is trying frantically to cover up the massacre by Ouattara Muslim forces last week.
Just like in Rwanda, where the Belgian UN peacekeeepers abandoned the victims to their fate, the UN forces were within the vicinity when the massacre was taking place and never intervened. The next thing they will do is to organise a summit where everyone will say Never Again will this kind of genocide happen.

The colonialists are back because of the fear that the BRIC countries will take hold of resources in Africa without passing through them.
Look at the shame in Libya, we watch an undisciplined group of rebels running back and forth shouting Allahu Akbar and flashing victory signs with NATO becoming their airforce; they are planning to start selling oil by next week. Only France and Italy have recognised them as the legitimate Govt and ready to export Libyan oil and hand over Libya external account to the rebels.
The problem of Libya as we have now realised is not only oil but water. The West are angry that Ghadaffi executed the largest man made river  in the world at a cost of $25b without borrowing a cent from IMF and awarding the contract to Koreans and Asian companies.

Even if Gbagbo goes, Ouattara is a divicive factor in CIV and the battle will continue; remember that the rebel leader and Ouattara PM Guillame Soro is also a very ambitious guy.

Apparently, his bunker is being stormed right now by opposition forces

'Absurd stubborness'

He wants to go out a 'Martyr'

That won't bode well for Quatarra.

Hope he built an escape tunnel.

It's a pity that  African  leaders are so greedy and corrupt that they find it difficult to leave power . Must blood be shed before a so called leader handover power to a legitimately elected opponent? nawaoooooooooooooooooo

Guyman02:

Who gave France the mandate to bomb a sovereign countries seat of govt and occupy the airport. Tha massacre of Christians in Duokoue by Ouattaras Muslim forces has become a source of embarassment to the international community with even the US Govt and UN denouncing publicly. Americans citizens are wondering why several UN staff were beaten to death and beheaded and in Afghanistan last week over the burning of the Koran by an obscure pastor and the western media is trying frantically to cover up the massacre by Ouattara Muslim forces last week.
Just like in Rwanda, where the Belgian UN peacekeeepers abandoned the victims to their fate, the UN forces were within the vicinity when the massacre was taking place and never intervened. The next thing they will do is to organise a summit where everyone will say Never Again will this kind of genocide happen.

The colonialists are back because of the fear that the BRIC countries will take hold of resources in Africa without passing through them.
Look at the shame in Libya, we watch an undisciplined group of rebels running back and forth shouting Allahu Akbar and flashing victory signs with NATO becoming their airforce; they are planning to start selling oil by next week. Only France and Italy have recognised them as the legitimate Govt and ready to export Libyan oil and hand over Libya external account to the rebels.
The problem of Libya as we have now realised is not only oil but water. The West are angry that Ghadaffi executed the largest man made river  in the world at a cost of $25b without borrowing a cent from IMF and awarding the contract to Koreans and Asian companies.

Even if Gbagbo goes, Ouattara is a divicive factor in CIV and the battle will continue; remember that the rebel leader and Ouattara PM Guillame Soro is also a very ambitious guy.

Africans need to wake up . Christianity & islam were imported into Africa. This is an Arican problem !

The fat frog GBAGBo refused ECOWAS mediation (3 presidents went there 2 times- Benin,cape Verde & Sierra Leone) former Nigeria president OBJ went there ,

Refused African Union intevention - Kenyan prime minister went there 2 times,Presidents of South Africa,Bukina faso & Mauritania also went - he said no.

he was invited to Addiss Ababa AU meeting in march- still no ,so blaming France for his problem is senility !

Please stop making it a Christian vs Muslim issue.

Gbagbo's militia have also killed many Quattara supporters in Abidjan.

Quattara is supported by the immigrant population in CIV (icluding Nigerian,ghanaian immigrants).

In summary the situation is very complex & saying its a muslim vs christian problem is false.

I support the action of France & the UN to bring this to a swift end- they mustn't forget to shoot the ba.st.ard -GBAGBO !

Guyman02:


The colonialists are back because of the fear that the BRIC countries will take hold of resources in Africa without passing through them.

did they ever leave??