2020 in Ivory Coast

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Decades:	2000s 2010s 2020s
See also:	Other events of 2020 Timeline of Ivorian history

Events in the year 2020 in Ivory Coast.

Incumbents

• President: Alassane Ouattara
• Prime Minister
  • Amadou Gon Coulibaly (died 8 July)[1]
  • Hamed Bakayoko (starting 30 July)[2]

Events

January

• January – Groups are announced for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification in October. Cameroon and Ivory Coast will face off.[3]
• 14 January – Authorities say they have rescued 137 children from Benin, Ghana, Niger, Nigeria, and Togo, aged 6 to 17, who were the victims of traffickers and groomed to work on cocoa plantations or in prostitution.[4]
• 24 January – Tens of thousands are left homeless as homes in shanty town are demolished near Félix-Houphouët-Boigny International Airport.[5]
• 31 January – Authorities in Côte d'Ivoire oppose the release of former president Laurent Gbagbo by the International Criminal Court (ICC) because his return would destabilize the country.[6]

February

• 3 February – A three-day workshop of the "Sahel Women's Empowerment and Demographic Dividend" (SWEDD) begins in Abidjan.[7]

April

• 28 April - Opposition politician Guillaume Soro was sentenced in absentia to 20 years in prison on charges of embezzling public funds and money laundering.[8]
• 29 April - Ivory Coast withdrew from the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights, after the tribunal ordered the government to suspend an arrest warrant for Guillaume Soro.[9]

June

• 11 June – At least ten soldiers are killed and six wounded in an attack in Kafolo, near the border with Burkina Faso.[10]

July

• July 8 – Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly, 61, dies.[11]
• July 13 – Vice President Daniel Kablan Duncan, 77, resigns for persoamal reasons.[12]

August

• August 12 - Three people were killed in Daoukro in clashes between supporters of Alassane Ouattara and Henri Konan Bedie. The government announced a ban on protests late in the day.[13]
• August 13 - A protester in Bonoua died during clashes with security forces, where a police station was also ransacked.[13]
• August 21 – The Independent Election commission (CEI) of the Ivory Coast rejects the candidacies of President Alassane Ouattara and former rebel leader Guillaume Soro in the October election.[14]

September

• September 13 – 2020 Ivorian presidential election: Former president Henri Konan Bedie is nominated for president by the PDCI-RDA and former prime minister Guillaume Soro is nominated by the GPS. Both are living in exile and their eligibility is questioned. President Alassane Ouattara announced his candidacy in July, despite a Constitutional prohibition on a third term.[15]

October

• 17 October - The home of opposition presidential candidate Pascal Affi N’Guessan was burned down in Bongouanou. Offices of the Ivorian Popular Front in Abidjan were also attacked.[16]
• 31 October – 2020 Ivorian presidential election: President Alassane Ouattara wins a controversial third term.[17]

November

• 13 November – Six people are killed in ethnic fighting in M'Batto.[17]

December

• December 6 – Charles Blé Goudé, 48, the right-hand man of Laurent Gbagbo, said that he plans to return home this month after being acquitted of charges of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.[18]
• December 14 – President Alassane Ouattara takes the oath of office for a controversial third term, after winning more than 94% of the October 31 vote, largely boycotted by the opposition.[19]
• December 23 – The Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) says it will participate in the 2021 Ivorian legislative election after a ten year boycott.[20]

Deaths

Allah Thérèse

• 5 January – Issiaka Ouattara, soldier (b. 1967)[21]
• 19 January – Allah Thérèse, traditional singer[22]
• 27 January – James Houra, 67, painter[23]
• 16 February – Erickson Le Zulu, 41, disc jockey; liver cirrhosis[24]
• 12 March – Mobio Besse Henri, boxer (b. 1977).[25]
• 20 April – Marie Rose Guiraud, 75, dancer and choreographer[26]
• 8 July - Amadou Gon Coulibaly, 61, prime minister (since 2017) and candidate in the 2020 presidential election.[27]
• 17 July – Pierre-Marie Coty, 92, Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Daloa (1975–2005).[28]
• 19 July – Seydou Diarra, 86, politician, Prime Minister (2000, 2003–2005).[29]
• 25 August – Laurent Akran Mandjo, Roman Catholic prelate (b. 1940).[30]
• 13 October – Marcel Zadi Kessy, 84, politician.[31]

See also

• COVID-19 pandemic in Africa
• COVID-19 pandemic in Ivory Coast
• 2020 in West Africa
• 2020 in Nigeria
• 2020 in Senegal
• List of George Floyd protests outside the United States

References

1. CNN, Schams Elwazer and Simon Cullen (July 8, 2020). "Ivory Coast PM Amadou Gon Coulibaly dies at 61". CNN. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
2. "Ivory Coast defence minister Bakayoko named prime minister". www.msn.com. Reuters. July 30, 2020. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
3. Cameroon drawn to face Ivory Coast in World Cup qualifying AP, 21 Jan 2020
4. Cote d'Ivoire: Ivory Coast Rescues 137 Child Trafficking Victims
5. Ivory Coast demolitions: Shantytown near airport cleared by Laura Burdon-Manley, Al Jazeera, 24 Jan 2020
6. Cote d'Ivoire: Government Says Gbagbo's Return Would Destabilize the Ivory Coast By Wairagala Wakabi, allAfrica, 31 JANUARY 2020
7. Africa: SWEDD 2 kicks off as the SWEDD initiative goes to scale
8. Larson, Krista (April 28, 2020). "I. Coast Opposition Leader Sentenced to 20 Years in Absentia". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 29, 2020.
9. de Bassompierre, Leanne; Mieu, Baudelaire (April 29, 2020). "Ivory Coast Withdraws From African Human Rights Court". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on April 30, 2020. Ivory Coast withdrew from the African Human Rights and Peoples Court, a week after the tribunal ordered the West African nation to suspend an arrest warrant against presidential hopeful Guillaume Soro, who on Tuesday was sentenced to 20 years in jail.
10. "At least 10 soldiers killed in attack on Ivory Coast border post". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
11. "Ivorian Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly dies in Abidjan at 61". France 24. 8 July 2020. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
12. "Ivory Coast vice president resigns citing personal reasons". news.yahoo.com. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
13. Agence France-Presse (August 13, 2020). "Four dead in Ivory Coast clashes over Ouattara election bid". The Guardian.
14. SANOGO, Issouf. "Ivory Coast former president, ex-rebel rejected in election bid: official". news.yahoo.com. AFP. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
15. "I.Coast parties nominate former president, ex-PM for election". news.yahoo.com. AFP. September 13, 2020. Retrieved Sep 14, 2020.
16. N'Gotta, Toussaint (October 18, 2020). "Ivorian opposition presidential candidate's home burned down". The Associated Press. Assailants burned down the home of a leading opposition presidential candidate in eastern Ivory Coast while one of his party’s offices came under attack elsewhere, witnesses said Sunday amid rising tensions two weeks before the election. A residence belonging to Pascal Affi N’Guessan was set ablaze in his hometown of Bongouanou amid clashes in the area Saturday. Meanwhile, an office belonging to his opposition Ivorian Popular Front party were attacked in the commercial capital of Abidjan.
17. Aboa, Ange (November 13, 2020). "After Ivory Coast election, fighting comes to a once-calm town". msn.com. Reuters. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
18. "Gbagbo's top aide says set to return to ICoast with ex-president". news.yahoo.com. Yahoo News. AFP. December 6, 2020. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
19. "Ivory Coast's Alassane Ouattara sworn in for disputed third term". aljazeera.com. Al Jazeera English. December 14, 2020. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
20. "Ex-president Gbagbo's party says ending 10-year boycott of I.Coast elections". msn.com. AFP. December 23, 2020. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
21. "Issiaka Ouattara, from rebel chief to controversial general". theafricareport.com. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
22. "Le président Alassane Ouattara attristé par la mort d'Allah Thérèse". afrique-sur7.fr (in French). Retrieved 22 January 2020.
23. Décès de James Houra : L’un des arbres tutélaires de la peinture ivoirienne s’est couché (in French)
24. Décès en France de Erickson le Zulu, l'ex star du Coupé décalé (in French)
25. Talha, Hind (13 March 2020). "Le triple champion ivoirien de boxe, Bessé Mobio Henry, dit Sonny, est décédé". yeclo.com (in French). Retrieved 10 August 2020.
26. Décès de Marie Rose Guiraud : Meiway est inconsolable (in French)
27. Ivory Coast's prime minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly dies at 61
28. Bishop Pierre-Marie Coty
29. L’ancien premier ministre ivoirien, Seydou Diarra, est mort (in French)
30. "Eglise catholique de Côte d'Ivoire: Décès de Mgr Laurent Akran Mandjo". yeclo.com (in French). Retrieved 26 August 2020.
31. Côte d'Ivoire: décès à Abidjan de Marcel Zadi Kessy à l'âge de 84 ans (in French)