Student and School Federation of Cote d’Ivoire resurfaced in Abidjan campus

French Translation of the Week

On February 20 and 21, violence involving students and the university police forced teachers to halt their classes at the Félix Houphouët-Boigny and Nangui Abrogoua campuses, in Abidjan. Reflection back on these events marks a renewed strength of the Student and School Federation of Côte d'Ivoire (FESCI).

Les 20 et 21 février, des violences impliquant des étudiants et la police universitaire ont contraint les enseignants à un arrêt forcé des cours sur les campus universitaires Félix Houphouët-Boigny et Nangui Abrogoua, à Abidjan. Retour sur ces événements qui marquent un regain de force de la fédération estudiantine et scolaire de Côte d'Ivoire (Fesci).

This article has been translated from French. Click here to read the original version on Jeune Afrique.

From Thursday, February 20 to Friday, February 21, violent clashes broke out on the Cocody campus between students who identify as the Student and School Federation of Côte d'Ivoire (FESCI) and members of the university police. The officer of the Republican Forces of Côte d'Ivoire (RDCI, National Army), Lieutenant-Colonel Issiaka Ouattara (aka Wattao), arrived in civilian clothes on the site on Friday to negotiate the return of students to their lecture halls. Without success.

Apart from vandalism, the toll of violence amounts to "21 wounded, including five critical cases" in the ranks of the university police, according to Jeannot Loukou, the communications manager of this unit. A student was also seriously injured, but is no longer in critical condition.

Dormant after the post-election crisis of 2010, FESCI resurfaced and asserted itself in an even more sensational manner, characteristic of the movement since 1990. Close to the opposition since the introduction of multiparty politics in April 1989, FESCI walked in the shadow of the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI, the oppositional party of Laurent Gbagbo) who has never hidden his sympathy for the student movement. With the beginning of Charles Ble Goude's term as the head of the movement in 1999 (patron saint of young patriots, now under house arrest), which was then succeeded by Guillaume Soro Kigbafory (the current Chairman of the Ivorian parliament,) FESCI is divided between pro- Ouattara and pro-Gbagbo.

A Political Crisis

Thursday and Friday, spirits were high when supporters of Augustin Mian, the current Secretary General, reportedly chanted "Free Gbagbo," "We do not want the ADO" and "Respect the FESCI of Laurent Gbagbo," reveals Jeannot Loukou, who believes that "this clash with the police was a pretext because, in actuality, it is political."

In fact, FESCI - whose legitimacy on Ivorian university campuses has decreased despite the hard work of the Coordination of Students of Côte d'Ivoire (CEECI), led by Moussa Konaté, pro-Ouattara - never diverged from their supporting party, the FPI. One of its "poster children," the commander Kacou Brou, of the Ivorian Maritime Affairs (aka "Marshal KB"), currently in exile in Ghana, is a pro-Gbagbo soldier. "Only FESCI wants to take a leadership role and incite violence," says Jeannot Loukou.

As for Lieutenant Colonel Issiaka Ouattara, Jeannot Loukou reminds us, he is not connected to the university police. "It is the FESCI who found refuge with him," he assures.

Article translated by Allie Stauss, Staff Intern for the Africa Program at the Wilson Center.