Municipality of Cocody: tensions during a search at the town hall
In the upscale town of Cocody, located in the district of Abidjan, Tuesday evening was marked by tension following a surprise search at the town hall. The event came shortly after Jean-Marc Yacé, a PDCI-RDA activist, was re-elected in a seemingly smooth ballot.
According to witnesses, about twenty gendarmes burst into the Cocody town hall to, it seems, “settle a malaise”. The arrival of the police caused a certain excitement among the activists present on the spot. According to someone close to the mayor, the gendarmes carried out a search of the premises of “general and computer resources”. However, it would seem that they left empty-handed, leaving some mystery as to their true intention.
The scene was broadcast live on the Facebook page of Jean-Marc Yacé, freshly re-elected with 42.7% of the vote. His entourage denounces this act of search as an “attempt to intimidate” given that it would have been carried out without a warrant. For now, those responsible for this intervention remain unknown and speculation is rife as to possible links with the elections.
For his part, Éric Taba, the candidate of the RHDP, denounced fraud in the ballot. Although he spontaneously congratulated his opponent on Sunday on his Facebook page, his message was later removed. Eric Taba now speaks of “scheming” and says that “everything suggests that we won Cocody with more than 13,000 votes”. He has already filed an appeal and it is now up to the Council of State to decide.
This case adds to a growing list of challenges to the results of the municipal and regional elections, announced the day before by the Independent Electoral Commission. The candidates have until Thursday evening to file a request with the Council of State, which will then have to decide on these various files.
The events that unfolded in Cocody once again underline the importance of transparency and integrity in elections. It is essential to take measures to guarantee citizens’ confidence in the democratic process. In-depth investigations will have to be carried out in order to shed light on this search and to clarify the allegations of fraud mentioned by certain candidates. Ivorian democracy is at stake, and it is essential to preserve its fundamental values.