The Interfaith Peace Foundation in Africa (IFAP), intends to actively participate in the promotion of peace and social cohesion before, during and after the presidential and political elections to be held in 2020 in Ivory Coast, Fides News Agency reported.
To this end, on August 2, there was a ceremony at the Plateau Salam mosque, in order to involve Christians, Muslims and the faithful of other confessions or religious beliefs to work for a peaceful climate and respect for human life.
The IFAP peace ambassador, Imam Cisse Djiguiba, rector of the Salam Plateau Mosque and spokesman for COSIM, the Superior Council of Imams of Côte d’Ivoire, invited all sections of the population, especially religious leaders to be true promoters of peace and social cohesion in these months preceding the 2020 elections.
A pre-election psychosis has spread in the Ivory Coast due to the fear of violence and serious incidents on the occasion of the vote, to the point that in January President Alassane Ouattara wanted to reassure the population, stating that «there will be no problems regarding the 2020 elections! I am confident. If the 2015 elections went well, why should the 2020 elections not go well? I trust the Ivorians, I trust our institutions».
In the Ivory Coast, the memories of the 2010-2011 post-election crisis remain alive, which caused over 3,000 victims. To this is added the tensions deriving from the change of the Constitution, following the referendum of October 30, 2016, which allows President Ouattara, to present himself in the elections in order to obtain a third mandate.
