BEAUTIES AND BEASTS

Miss Cote d'Ivoire, the pursuit of excellence. The slogan can be shocking when you listen to the questionable interventions of contestants. However, there is no reason to be offended. One thing is to seek excellence, another is to find it. This is perhaps what explains the great annual journey across the entire country, of the Organizers. They want to find that rare girl combining physical and intellectual beauty and it's quite difficult. 

Each year, this national competition raises questions about the reasons of its existence and its durability. But if some people want it to be canceled, others require the decoration of the Chairperson of the committee. Why not start by removing the phase of 'general culture'? That would be a breath of oxygen, for the reputation of the organizers, suffocating under the weight of criticism due to the intellect of the young ladies. 

On Saturday, June 4, 2012 again, the answers of pretenders to the throne were almost pitiful. They looked like pupils reciting a lesson not well learned. It was a shame. Then, Miss Gabon spoke, and it was  last nail to the cross of the shame of Ivorian. 

The show has so many things wrong. A faulty sound system, technical failures and a troubled host with bad jokes. Whether we liked it or not, a new beauty queen was elected. To help the frail shoulders of the girl, who must bear alone the burden of representing the Ivorian beauty on the international scene...gifts, great gifts and ... millions. 

A home to be well protected from the weather. A car not to exhaust her legs in the jungle of Abidjan pedestrians. Millions, to congratulate her for her efforts because walking with high heels is not everybody's portion! The contestant number 15 has learned it the hard way. 

Who said that there is no money in this country? The millions are here. Let's girls start parading in swimsuits. You see sponsors opening their big wallet. Are they not free to invest their money in the activity they like? What if the first lady wants to give a contribution? Who are we to complain? 

Nobody! Nobody but Ivorian noticing that governments are coming and going, elected or installed by force, but this competition remains the same. Worse, it gives birth to other versions by district, campus, age group, body parts. 

We are only bitter. As far as our mind can think,  we don't see how we could win over 15 million CFA francs, a villa and a car by only one-night of hard work. 

Maybe, we are idiots, beasts of burden because we cannot understand. We cannot understand people asking us to walk on the golden way of patience, with an empty stomach, when all the gold are constantly  removed for Queens' crown and to strengthen Kings' power.

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PRISONNERS HUNT

Published in  L'intelligent d'Abidjan of May 22, 2012 

Prison break in Korhogo, Katiola Dimbokro Agboville, Abidjan ... It seems our prisons are real sieves. Yet they rebuilt the House of Detention and Correction of Abidjan after the post-election crisis. Around  two billions francs CFA spent. Obviously,  it did not include the strengthening of the security, but only the beauty and comfort of the infrastructure. But even in gold, a prison remains a prison, and the new prison, just as porous as the old one , has unleashed a flood of residents. Now, the police is trying to catch them. 

It's quiet amazing, when you know that safety is a priority for the new government which promised big changes. Easier said than done. Unable to prevent, they try to heal and sometimes find themselves playing the doctors after death. The exercise of power is not easy. 

In an attempt to catch the escapees, raids were introduced. The announcement was made on television to make it official and reassure all the people worried by the increased presence of military in the streets.

At 21heures, they invest the streets exactly as they do when there is a curfew. Strangely they don't check the identity of drivers. There target are pedestrians only.

It is known, fugitives moves only at night and by foot. Since "escaped" is not written on someone's forehead or on the identity card, people caught are taken to the police academy for verification. Which one ? Do they have a software which can tell if someone has been in jail, if he has finished to pay his debt to society or not, just by using his digital print, or entering his name ? I doubt it!

So the good citizens are forced to remain confined in their homes, not to risk falling into the tight mesh of a net that does not immediately distinguish between varieties of fish he takes. Finally, we are all prisoners.

With this campaign, the government exposed itself to critics. And they have already started. They are  talking about abuse, violence, injury to the dignity of man and torture during the arrests. They say it is a diversion to legitimize the witch hunt, or rather the "pro-Gbagbo sorcerers." hunt.

Whose fault is it, if such statements are made ? We are not in a usual scenario. There was a violent and bloody conflict, before the new President could start leading the country. Each step should be focused on reconciliation and surrounded by a good communication campaign.