Climate of fear around “Republic of Golf”
ABIDJAN, 24 January 2011 (IRIN): More than a month after clashes between forces loyal to Ivory Coasts rival claimants to the presidency, the sound of gunfire still echoes loudly in the memories of those living around the Golf Hotel, where Alassane Ouattara, the internationally recognized winner of a 28 November election, and his associates, are holed up under UN protection.
The luxury, 300-room hotel, on Abidjan’s Boulevard de France, in the Riviéra District of the city, is virtually besieged by army troops loyal to Laurent Gbabgo.
It was here on 2 December that Ivory Coasts Commission Electorale Indépendante (CEI) confirmed Ouattara’s victory in the face of competing claims from Gbagbo and his supporters, who have subsequently referred derisively to Ouattara’s “Republic of Golf”.
The only way into the hotel is by UN helicopter. Few private cars or communal taxis now drive along the main road linking the hotel to Plateau, Abidjan’s business district.
Fifteen hundred metres from the hotel, all vehicles heading to nearby districts have to leave the tarmac (asfalt) and use a bumpy dirt track to avoid the army’s roadblock, where troops are supported by a military tank.
Soldiers with weapons drawn search all vehicles taking the dirt road. There is no jovial chit-chat as documents are checked.
– My heart beats faster whenever I see the solders, said Marcelline, a 32-year-old seamstress (syerske) who lives in the district of Anono.
– We are fearful every day because we do not know when hostilities will break out again, she said, fingering her rosary (rosenkrands).
– For us believers, everything is in God’s hands. He must not abandon us and let this country go to the dogs, she added.
In the nearby markets and shops, purchases are made in bulk (store partier), despite the rising cost of food.
– Every time I shop, I buy for a week. If things blow up, I want to have enough supplies for a few days before thinking about moving somewhere else further away, said Louisette, a secondary school teacher.
She has no time for the political machinations that have so polarized the country: – I do not see why we are not allowed through. People live there, they still need freedom, she said.
Empty flats, nervous soldiers
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