Since the return of Hamed Bakayoko’s remains to Abidjan on Saturday, citizen tributes have multiplied throughout the country. This Wednesday, March 17 was chosen by the authorities to mark the official highlight during which the whole nation was gathered to say goodbye to the Prime Minister, Hamed Bakayoko, who died at the age of 56, last week, in Germany, of a dazzling cancer.
The Ivorian and African political world united around “HamBak”
Divided into three highlights, the day began at 10:30 a.m. with a national tribute to the Republic, with a ceremony in the grounds of the presidential palace in Abidjan, in the presence of President Ouattara and his wife Dominique, both dressed in dark, members of the government, the highest military and religious authorities, the diplomatic corps. Several neighboring heads of state were also present, including the Burkinabè Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, the Ghanaian Nana Akufo-Addo and the Guinean Alpha Condé.
Hamed Bakayoko’s coffin covered with the green, white and orange flag of Côte d’Ivoire and a huge portrait of him were installed half an hour after the start of the ceremony. The Ouattara couple and the foreign heads of state and government bowed to the front. Then the Head of State posthumously awarded him the Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit, the highest Ivorian distinction.
“The Prime Minister was a great man and a good man, his disappearance invites each of us to cultivate the values to which the illustrious disappeared devoted his life. He embodied courage, hard work, generosity, loyalty, simplicity and the joy of life, ”said the Grand Mediator, Adama Toungara. “Remember, it was through hard work and skill that Hamed Bakayoko rose, step by step, to the top. Remember that he continued the work of Amadou Gon, his predecessor, so that our country continues its march towards progress and prosperity, in peace and stability. His love for young people and artists was unwavering, ”he continued.
For Raymonde Goudou Coffie, the Ivorian Minister of Culture and Francophonie, Hamed Bakayoko “left without fear with the conviction of having fought the good fight”. Speaking, Minister Mamadou Touré expressed the same view. “For HamBak, social condition cannot be a handicap to success. He was an example for millions of young Ivorians. ”
Political tribute and musical
In announcing the death of his Prime Minister a week ago, President Ouattara said he was losing a “son and a close collaborator”. This term of “son”, he had already used on the death in July 2020 of Amadou Gon Coulibaly, predecessor of Hamed Bakayoko, who died at 62 years old a few days after his return from hospitalization and a convalescence of two months in France. Also very close to the Head of State, it was Amadou Gon Coulibaly whom he had chosen to run for president, but his death had prompted Alassane Ouattara to stand again, while he had announced that he did not want to run for office. third term. The office of Prime Minister is currently held by Patrick Achi, former secretary general of the presidency. That of Minister of Defense, which Hamed Bakayoko also occupied, is temporarily provided by Téné Birahima Ouattara, the president’s younger brother.
In the afternoon, it is the political parties, especially the Rassemblement des houphouëtistes pour la democratie et la paix (RHDP, in power), which will salute the memory of Hamed Bakayoko, in the Ebimpé stadium to the north of Abidjan. The opposition, including the Democratic Party of Côte d’Ivoire (PDCI) of ex-president Henri Konan Bédié and the Front populaire ivoirien (FPI) of ex-president Laurent Gbagbo, hailed the memory of a man of “convictions and compromises”, “of a great servant of the State”.
After the homage of the State of Côte d’Ivoire and the political world, the memory of Prime Minister Hamed Bakayoko was celebrated by Ivorian and African music stars, to whom he was close, during a popular concert at the great Abidjan stadium on Wednesday evening.
Some 20,000 people, according to AFP journalists, mostly young people wearing a white T-shirt with a photo of “HamBak”, gathered in a festive atmosphere at the Olympic stadium in Ebimpé. After a release of doves, the concert started around 8:30 p.m. (local and GMT) with the performances of Ivorians Obams and Ariel Sheney, then continued with the Congolese star Fally Ipupa.
Footballers Samuel Eto’o and Emmanuel Adebayor were also present at this tribute to Hamed Bakayoko, whom the leader of the famous Ivorian group Magic System, A’Salfo, described as “bis Minister of Culture”.
Before entering the government in the 2000s, Hamed Bakayoko, passionate about music and great party lover, had built a powerful network of friendships in the world of showbiz when he ran Radio Nostalgie, one of the first private radio stations. from Côte d’Ivoire, funded by Dominique Ouattara, wife of current President Alassane Ouattara.
Hamed Bakayoko will be buried in family privacy on Friday in his town of Séguéla (North), at the end of a week of national mourning.
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