Archbishop Ahouanan to head Ivory Coast's reconciliation commission

Reuters reports Tuesday that Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara appointed the Catholic Archbishop of Bouaké,  Paul-Siméon Ahouanan Djro, a Franciscan, to head the country’s flagging post-war reconciliation efforts ahead of elections later this year, a senior official with the presidency said.

Ivory Coast is emerging from a decade-long political crisis that ended in a brief 2011 civil war that followed presidential elections in late 2010. The government created a Dialogue, Truth and Reconciliation Commission (CDVR) in the wake of the violence. While the economy has seen a renaissance under President Ouattara's stewardship, however, Ivory Coast remains crippled by deep political and ethnic divisions that threaten to undermine long-term stability. Archbishop Paul Siméon Ahouana will head a new body that will take over from the CDVR.

"This commission has as its objective to finish the work of the Dialogue, Truth and Reconciliation Commission and proceed to the compensation of victims," Amadou Gon Coulibaly, secretary-general at the presidency, told journalists.

Archbishop Ahouana was named Archbishop of Bouake while the city was under the occupation of rebel forces, which seized control of the northern part of Ivory Coast following a failed attempt to oust then President Laurent Gbagbo in 2002. The Archbishop is known for having opened dialogue with the rebels at a time when they were shunned by much of the clergy. Former President Gbagbo, whose refusal to accept his election defeat to President Ouattara sparked the 2011 conflict, is now at the Hague's International Criminal Court (ICC) charged with crimes against humanity.

Rights groups accuse Ivory Coast’s President Ouattara of pursuing a policy of one-sided justice that has obstructed reconciliation since taking office, prosecuting Gbagbo's supporters while ignoring crimes committed by his own supporters.

The CDVR faced criticism for its extravagant spending and a lack of tangible results. The body's head, former Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny, is expected to be among Ouattara's challengers in a presidential election slated for October this year.

(Reuters)

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