Didier Drogba’s plea for Ivory Coast peace
As Chelsea star Didier Drogba joins a commission to tackle the wounds left by years of fighting in Ivory Coast, he tells Channel 4 News he is determined to be a part of the “long process”.
Drogba, who is from Ivory Coast, called for calm during the fighting in the country when violence broke out after last year’s presidential election, killing 3,000 people.
Today he met the president of the Ivorian Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the former Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny to discuss his role in helping promote peace.
Ivory Coast’s civil war was rekindled after the former president Laurent Gbagbo refused to accept his defeat to Alassane Ouattara in the November elections.
‘Stick together’
Ouattara later announced he was setting up the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which drew its inspiration from the group which helped South Africa move on from apartheid.
Drogba told Channel 4 News that Ivorians need to unite and look at the reasons for the violence to avoid a repeat.
“I know that my country has suffered a lot and a lot of Ivorians don’t want this to happen again.
The best way to prevent it is to stick together, to talk together, and find reasons for why this happened and make sure it doesn’t happen again. Didier Drogba
“The best way to prevent it is to stick together, to talk together, and find reasons for why this happened and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
“That’s the objective – to make people stick together, to accept what has been done and say sorry.”
‘Long process’
He said that Ivory Coast should draw on South Africa’s history as they move forward.
“What happened in South Africa took a long time, but they managed to do it, I don’t know why Ivory Coast couldn’t do it. It’s possible.”
But Drogba told Channel 4 News that there is no quick-fix to the problem.
“It’s not going to happen tomorrow. It’s a long process. And I want to be involved in that process.”
Drogba also brushed off the idea of any political ambitions after he retires from football.
“I’d be happy just to go back to my country and see things are better, that people are able to live together and forgive.”
