- First trip to la Côte d'Ivoire
- First ride in a police car
- First time being deported
One
of our classes this semester is ‘Regional Integration’ where we learn about the
integration processes of African countries, particularly the Economic Community
of West African States (ECOWAS). ECOWAS is supposed to enable free movement of
goods, services and people in West
Africa, so we decided to cross the border to la Côte d’Ivoire (CI) to see how
this process occurs. In addition, CI had a post-election crisis in 2010 which
resulted in a war between supporters of the winning President Outtara and the
previous President Gbagbo. Some of us
are taking a course in ‘Conflict Resolution’ so the trip would also allow those
of us taking that course to see a country in its post-crisis stages and meet
some of those affected.
The
trip started on Thursday when we left Accra to see some sites in Ghana before
heading to Abidjan in CI. We stopped in Cape Coast to see one of the largest
forts on the West African coast where slaves were shipped to the Americas. We
travelled on to the birthplace of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president at
the time of independence. On Friday we went to an Ivorian refugee camp where
supporters of Gbagbo have been forced to flee to. It was an incredibly sad
place with approx. 7000 people living and schooling under UNHCR tents and
surviving off of WFP food donations of rice, oil, and beans. The president of the camp was previously a
lawyer in CI, lost all his possessions including his law certificates and was
forced to abandon his comfortable life in CI to live under a tent with a dirt
floor in a refugee camp in Ghana.
Another man arrived at the camp only to see the person who killed his
daughter, which obviously created a lot of challenges in the camp.
From
the camp we went to the Ivorian border, which is where all the trouble began.
The Ghanaian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (where 15 of our classmates have come
from as part of their training before being posted abroad) arranged the bus for
our travel and provided us with a letter and invitation to give to the Ivorian
authorities whenever we met them. Because of this letter, I was told I wouldn’t
need a visa to enter. Apparently this was not the opinion of the Ivorian border
agents who said I needed a visa and it was passed the time that I could buy one
at the border. As such, they put me in a police car and deported me back to
Ghana. I was even recorded in their official book of deportation. This was even
after multiple calls with senior staff at Ghana’s mission in CI. Fortunately
our classmate who is from CI called her father who is a General in the Ivorian
army who was able to call the head of the border staff and instructed that they
let me enter. Although I was already in Ghana, they told me to come back where
the police picked me up, this time bringing me back to my waiting classmates
and our bus in CI. Shortly after we were off to Abidjan.
Côte
d’Ivoire is quite different from Ghana, though many of their ethnic groups and
local dialects are the same. A series of
civil wars has really affected the country, and this is quite clear by the
mannerisms of many of the security officials we met. After every few kilometres
there is a police or military checkpoint. At each of these stops we were met
with hostility by the officials who were quite apprehensive about ‘foreigners’
(even the Ghanaians) travelling in CI. It was explained to me that much of the
gendarmerie is comprised of illiterate ‘rebels’ who were absorbed into police
or military forces during the reconciliation process. Sadly, those who were not
brought on board still roam about, bringing sporadic disturbances and violence
with them.
Abidjan
is an interesting place. It is better than Accra in that it has closed gutters,
making sanitation in that respect quite a bit better. It is said that Ghana has
a trash problem – but in CI it is even worse. There are a number of waterways
that separate parts of Abidjan from others. Large boats ply many routes, taking
people to various parts of the city which I expect reduces a lot of traffic on
the roads. There are some magnificent buildings like the national theatre, but at
the same time there are many impressive structures that have not been maintained
(even in the city centre) - probably another result of constant political
turmoil. The food (probably my favourite part about travelling) uses the same
ingredients as Ghanaian food, but prepared in completely different ways. For
example, one of their main local dishes, Attiéké, is prepared from cassava and
looks a lot like couscous. It is eaten with onion and tomato stew, hot pepper,
and one of the tastiest fish I have ever eaten. Plus they have French baguettes
and croissants which were a great change from what is available in Ghana.
On
the whole the trip was a good one. We went for educational purposes and I
really learnt a lot - especially to listen to my own advice and always get a visa before travelling to another country.
Ivorian Food: Attiéké
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