Thousands of Ivorians lined the streets around Felix Houphouet-Boigny Airport to herald the return of President Alassane Ouattara from France where he has been undergoing medical treatment for sciatica, according to a Government statement.
“As you can see, I’ve returned in good shape. I’m doing well. I’m in perfect health,” Ouattara told journalists and well-wishers upon his arrival in the West African state. His words seemed to be a response to rumours that his health problems, about which few details were released, were more serious than had been officially acknowledged.
“People were saying he was dead. I was very worried. I fasted for three days for him. He is everything to us,” said one onlooker, who wore a T-shirt bearing the president’s image as he waited for him to arrive at the airport.
Since taking office in 2011, Ouattara has won praise from international partners for fostering an economic renaissance in francophone West Africa’s largest economy.
Preparations for elections due late next year are behind schedule. Voter rolls must be revised and negotiations over the composition of a new elections commission have yet to open. Ouattara has said he would seek a second term but his selection is largely contingent on continuing support from his Rally of the Republicans (RDR) party’s main coalition partner, the Ivory Coast Democratic Party (PDCI).
