Introduction
At the start if its independence in 1960, Côte d’Ivoire was ruled by Félix Houphouët-Boigny, in a manner described as “authoritarian and paternal”. In the 33 years of his rule, Côte d’Ivoire enjoyed relative economic and social stability as well as growth, with its economic capital, Abidjan, becoming what is known as the “Paris of Africa”. On his death in 1993, Houphouët-Boigny was succeeded by Aimé Henri Konan Bédié, who was ousted from power by a military coup on Christmas Eve in 1999. General Robert Guei, the head of the military junta, managed to organise a presidential election, albeit amid civil crisis, which saw Laurent Gbagbo come into power in 2000. However, it would be another decade before elections would be held again, sparking civil unrest.
2010, the long-awaited elections and the “ivoire.info-techpreneurs”
The 2010 presidential elections were five years overdue. Several postponements had ended up galvanising ordinary citizens into civil action. In Côte d’Ivoire, presidential elections are the first in a series of elections. They are followed by legislative, regional and finally, municipal elections. The presidential elections are carried by a simple majority – by a candidate winning 50% of all valid votes plus one. In the case of no clear winner, a second round is organised as a run-off for the two candidates with the highest number of votes.
The government had coupled voter registration with a national identification process. This meant that a maximum number of voters were expected. At the end of the initial phase of registration, 5,784,490 voters were cleared for the process. Another feature of the elections was the number of presidential hopefuls. There were fourteen in all, including a woman, a comedian, a human rights activist and a farmer. The state.run national broadcaster indicated that each of the candidates was going to “face the nation” for 90 minutes and answer questions. A face.to-face live debate was also scheduled for the two run-off candidates.
Voter mobilisation moved from the streets online. Gbagbo launched a much-hyped website. His major challenger, Allasane Dramane Ouattara, launched his too, which was radio and TV enabled. Then followed the YouTube channels, the Facebook groups and the Twitter accounts, with politicians maximising the potential of online media interventions.
Wonzomai, the Ivorian version of Ushahidi
Wonzomai – meaning “witness” in Beté, the major language in the western part of the country – was the first internet-enabled citizen engagement initiative dealing with election issues.364 It allowed individuals to report diverse incidents, from traffic conditions, fraud and security, to voting conditions, as well as to share official government information. Citizens could call, text, send email or use the Twitter hashtag to report incidents, which were then mapped.