Forces loyal to Alassane Ouatarra
The trouble next-door which is Ivory Coast is no longer funny. We have heard about how former rebels who fought on the side of the Alassane Ouatarra forces have insisted on receiving their allowance which remain outstanding to date many months after a deal was reached about such a move.
When your neighbour’s beard is torched you must get water ready to douse yours when that too catches fire. That is a sensible thing to do and so we wish to proceed to take another look at the security nuisance that is threatening the peace of that country and posing a danger to our economy.
There is no doubt that when the security breach goes out of hand we would be compelled to contain thousands of refugees from the strife-stricken country.
A country which has just come out of a civil war is in a best position to appreciate the importance of peace and should be seen to be working towards the restoration of that virtue rather than attracting negative international headlines.
We have, as the rest of the world, followed the post-war progress of the Ivory Coast under the leadership of Alassane Ouatarra as President of the Ivory Coast and wish to register our opprobrium at the threat posed by the security breaches.
The issue of non-settlement of allowances should not be reason soldiers would mutiny in a country which is supposed to be a civilized society. With a military might of some 22 million men and women in the colours, four million of them engaged in the mutiny is a worrying situation.
The increased output of cocoa farms and the subsequent progress in that country has pushed the country to economic levels never envisaged since her independence from France.
Let cool heads rein under the circumstances lest the gains made in the past few years after the civil war are wiped off and the image of the Ivory Coast returned to the gutters.
We are worried that once the situation is not managed sufficiently what has started as a mutiny could return the country to the dark days of a group wanting to seize power.
France is certainly busy mending her fences that an intervention of sorts in a distant country which although was a former colony would not be worth the trouble. It had been consistent with such interventions in the past but this cannot be sustained if former colonies, most of them in sub-Saharan African countries, would not be civilized enough to avoid primitiveness such as taking up arms over flimsy allowances.
The so-called non-interference in the affairs of neighbouring countries is becoming nonsensical against the backdrop of modern day realities. If Country A cannot interfere in the affairs of Country B it is only logical that when matters get out of hand the distressed country should be able to manage her affairs.
We must be able to call on our neighbours to ensure that such recurring security breaches, the ultimate of which is the mutinous situation evidential in Ivory Coast, is a serious cause of worry – the consequences of which would not inure to sub-regional peace.
The mutinous soldiers cannot hold the country to ransom. We have no room for refugees. In fact we have enough challenges to address.