While meeting a large delegation from the Nawa region of western Côte d’Ivoire on Thursday,
former President Laurent Gbagbo decried the contrast between Ivory Coast’s status as the world’s leading cocoa producer and the persistent poverty of its farmers.
He used the meeting to advocate for “consistency” as a cardinal virtue in politics.
President Gbagbo welcomed the people to a residence in Mama, decorated in the colours of the Nawa region, where they came to reaffirm their historical loyalty.
Beyond the pleasantries and messages of appreciation from the delegation’s spokespeople, the discussions quickly took on a distinctly social and political dimension. The former head of state
focused his remarks on the distressful refrains from the rural population.
For him, the current situation of the coffee and cocoa sector in Ivory Coast is an economic anomaly that he considers “unacceptable.” “We are the world’s leading cocoa producers, yet the farmers are poor,” he lamented bitterly.
Mr Gbagbo specifically pointed to the shortcomings of the payment system. He denounced the use of mere “scraps of paper” given to farmers in exchange for their harvests, instead of immediate cash
compensation.
“Farmers work hard all year round… this is not right,” he insisted, calling for a profound reform to guarantee social justice for Ivorian farmers. He then made a plea for political consistency.
Addressing a receptive audience, the leader of the opposition PPA-CI also spoke about values. In
a politically volatile context, he elevated fidelity to convictions to an absolute principle.
“In politics, one must be consistent…People always recognise those who remain true to their commitments,” he affirmed, praising the loyalty of the Nawa region (West), which, according to him, has never wavered over the decades.
The meeting concluded with calls to action.
The people of Nawa, leaving energised, pleaded for the fight to improve the living conditions of cocoa farmers to become an absolute national priority. A pillar of the national economy, the cocoa sector, which affects more than 5 million people in Côte d’Ivoire, contributes 15% to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and represents 40% of the country’s exports.
AP/fss/as/APA