Taxi driver Alain is so disillusioned with Ivory Coast’s politicians that he and other residents of Abidjan’s Yopougon district plan to ignore next week’s presidential election. The densely populated district — a strategic target for political parties — was once a bastion of ex-president Laurent Gbagbo’s but fell to the current ruling party 14 years ago. Gbagbo has been barred from standing in the October 25 poll due to a criminal conviction, his party is imploding and incumbent Alassane Ouattara looks set to retain the hold on power he has enjoyed since 2011.Yopougon residents who spoke to AFP said they were disenchanted with politics. First-time voters, particularly, are more concerned with getting a job, said sociologist Severin Yao Kouame.Election candidates keep a close eye on the prize that is Yopougon. Of the west African country’s nine million voters, 500,000 live in the sprawling district of Ivory Coast’s economic capital. But Alain — not his real name as he did not want to be identified — said resignation and political apathy hung over parts of the bellwether electoral constituency. “You wouldn’t know in Yopougon that there was an election campaign under way because Gbagbo’s supporters don’t feel concerned by it,” the 44-year-old said. – Losing faith -For many years, Yopougon was a stronghold for Gbagbo, the president from 2000 to 2011. When he was ousted after a violent political crisis, Yopougon local council went to the RHDP party led by Ouattara.Gbagbo’s historic rival is on course to win a fourth term as president and some erstwhile Gbagbo supporters in Yopougon have lost faith. He was prosecuted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity in the 2010-2011 civil war and spent eight years in prison in The Hague before being acquitted in 2021. Back in Ivory Coast, he founded the opposition PPA-CI party but cut ties with some former close allies, including ex-wife Simone. Now he is banned from standing, his PPA-CI is riven with divisions and his ex-wife is running for president for a rival party.Yopougon resident David Djedje, 38, said he had given up on Gbagbo.The PPA-CI didn’t even have a presidential candidate and he wasn’t interested in the others. Sociologist Kouame said first-time voters “find themselves in a blind spot because there is no political offer that speaks to them”. – Lack of jobs -“I’m not interested in voting. It’s always the same people,” said geology student Victoire Beda, 19. Paul Kouassi, a Yopougon resident in his thirties, said he was more concerned about the lack of job prospects than the election. Yopougon has a large black economy and the local industrial estate “only offers very seasonal and fairly insecure job opportunities”, Kouame explained.Ouattara activists are upbeat about the district, listing the improvements since their man came to power. “The roads still need to be paved,” admitted pro-government campaigner Aliou Bakayoko, 58.”But we have security, vocational training centres are open and schools have been renovated.”Aristide Tape, the head of a neighbourhood association, did not share Bakayoko’s enthusiasm. Above all, the spirit of Yopougon had disappeared, he said, recalling the lively Princess Road, with its unlicensed informal bars, that was bulldozed when the RHDP came to power.
