For his second visit to his village of Mama, Laurent Gbagbo received in his residence more than 200 traditional leaders and local officials of his party. After a ten-year absence, including eight in custody, the former president spoke for more than 35 minutes, punctured his remarks with anecdotes and presented himself as the victim of a political trial.
Under the impressive appatamen sitting in the middle of the park in his Mama home, Laurent Gbagbo, sky blue shirt, stands up to speak. A few words in béte, finally, “he gives news”, as tradition dictates after a long period of absence.
“Yes, I was taken there …” (audience laughter). There, in other words, in Sheveningen prison in the Netherlands, where he spent eight years in custody. Laurent Gbagbo multiplies sayings, understatements or euphemisms and talks at length about detention in a light tone. “I made friends,” he says, or even confirms that he “did not see the time go by.”
As if to make people forget her official divorce petition from Simone Gbagbo which gave him some half-word criticism among his followers, he insisted on the role of Nady Bamba, his current companion. “She fed me. She was the one who gave me money every month. Because the food we are served in prison is not good. ”
Settlement of accounts with the ICC
He then questions the procedure and the prosecution before the International Criminal Court: “It was not serious, it was necessary to remove a troublesome man, an embarrassing competitor, so I sat there” while “he was not ‘there was nothing’. “I’m not a criminal,” he exclaims.
Finally, Gbagbo continues to emphasize his intervention with anecdotes and metaphors, all of which aim to make the audience understand that he will return to the political game. By addressing the PDCI’s executive secretary among the guests, he urges his supporters to form an alliance with the PDCI. “Let us not curse each other,” he asks.
It is also noteworthy that Laurent Gbagbo did not mention the name of Alassane Ouatarra, the Ivorian president, in the 35-minute intervention.
