FORMER IVORIAN PRESIDENT DONATED MONEY TO FRANCE?

Former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo recently admitted again that while serving as head of state, he provided former French President Jacques Chirac with 2 billion CFA francs, or roughly 3 million euros. Robert Bourgi, special French political advisor on African affairs, shared that African presidents would give millions of euros to Paris.

To quote one French magazine, L'Express, 'For over thirty years, Robert Bourgi, a Franco-Lebanese born in Senegal, was on first-name terms with all the heads of state in French-speaking Africa: Félix Houphouët-Boigny and Laurent Gbagbo (Ivory Coast), Mobutu Sese Seko (DRC), Denis Sassou-Nguesso (Congo Brazzaville), Blaise Compaoré (Burkina Faso), Mathieu Kérékou (Benin) and Abdoulaye Wade and Macky Sall (Senegal). Taken together, these presidents sent at least 10 million euros in cash to Paris before each election. Clandestine operations in which Bourgi was an essential cog, as he himself recounts.'

How did France repay Gbagbo? France rushed to pick a side when disputes broke out between Gbagbo and his opponent, the current Ivorian president, Alassane Ouattara, over the 2011 presidential election. It was not Gbagbo's. According to some, French troops arrested Gbagbo when fighting broke out over the disputed election. France denies having arrested Gbagbo, instead stating that Ouattara's presidential guard had arrested and handed him over to French troops. Either way, France intervened swiftly and with a heavy hand in favour of Ouattara. Both French and UN troops then proceeded to attack Gbagbo's residence, reducing part of it to rubble. Missiles rained down from their helicopters, not just on Gbagbo's presidential residence but also on his supporters. In the midst of this chaos, former French President Nicolas Sarkozy took a personal phone call with Ouattara, whom the UN had decided was the legitimate president, to the dismay of many in the Ivory Coast. Gbagbo was then brought before the International Criminal Court and accused of war crimes following the election dispute. Then, in 2019, Gbagbo was acquitted of all charges and the ICC released him.

So what did Gbagbo's payments to France mean in the end? Relations were good when the money was generously flowing in their direction. But, when Gbagbo started talking about nationalising French banks and getting rid of the French-controlled CFA-franc currency, it appeared Paris would stop at nothing to see him ousted.

Video credit: @alainfoka2005 (X)