United States Embassy (Abidjan)
14 September 2007
This daily press review is compiled by the Information Section of the Public Affairs Office of the American Embassy in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.
1. A scandal in the cocoa sector and doctors' strike are the major news in today's Ivoirian papers. However, the big question that hangs on the front page of many newspapers today is "when the upcoming election will be held?" in this West African country.
2. Le Front, a daily close to the New Forces, carries a banner headline reading, "Beugre Mambe is categorical: No election without papers." The paper quotes the Chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission, Robert Beugre Mambe, as saying, "As long as Ivoirians won't have their papers, there will be no election."
3. The Ivoirian electoral commissioner, who was speaking yesterday in Abidjan during a press conference, is quoted as saying, "We cannot give a date... However the presidential election could be held at the latest in October 2008." Commenting Mambe's pronouncement on the date of the forthcoming election, the paper salutes what it calls, "a good and pragmatic decision."
4. With a picture of the Ivoirian electoral commissioner on its front page, the privately-owned daily L'inter says, "Mambe fixes the date of the first round of the coming election." The paper publishes a statement issued by the Independent Electoral Commission, which intends "to organize presidential election in October 2008." The paper quotes the Cabinet Director of the Ivoirian Prime Minister, who said: "If the Independent Electoral Commission fixes a date, we will push hard to meet the deadline."
5. A front-page story in Le Jour Plus, a daily close to the opposition, predicts that, "It's likely that the coming election takes place without prior disarmament of the ex-combatants."
6. As political parties in Cote d'Ivoire have been embarked in electoral campaigning in the perspective of the coming election, Le Matin d'Abidjan, a daily close to President Laurent Gbagbo, unveils what it calls "the bomb that the RHDP - an opposition coalition is preparing against Gbagbo."
7. In another development, Le Nouveau Reveil, a daily close to the former ruling PDCI-RDA party, carries a front-page story entitled: "Purchasing of a cocoa factory: 100 billion Francs CFA embezzled at the FRC - Coffee-Cocoa Regulation Funds."
8. Reporting on what it calls "The biggest business scandal that ever happens in Cote d'Ivoire," the paper tells readers that, "During a money transfer from Abidjan to Washington, aimed at buying a cocoa factory in the United States, more than 100 billion Francs CFA have got missing, prompting the manager of the factory to send a letter to Gbagbo."
9. Still on the same "scandal", another front-page story in Le Patriote, a daily close to the opposition RDR party, says, "The American shareholder in the cocoa business sends a letter to Gbagbo."
10. 24 Heures, a daily close to the opposition, says the Ivoirian Presidential Palace and the Coffee-Cocoa Regulation Funds "refuse to comment on" what the paper suspects to be "a money laundry deal" in connection with the acquisition of a cocoa factory in the United States.
11. In another development, the paper informs readers that, the National Union of Senior Health Workers of Cote-d'Ivoire (SYNACASS-CI) has celled on striking doctors and health workers "to resume work today."
12. While the SYNACASS-CI "temporarily suspends its strike for eight days," reports the state-owned daily paper, Fraternite Matin, "The government has called on the retired doctors to assist in coping with the situation."
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