An Ivorian court has sentenced the former prime minister Guillaume Kigbafori Soro to 20 years in prison for corruption.
The former rebel leader was tried and convicted in absentia. Judgment was given on Tuesday 28 April. Soro has been living in exile in France since December 2019.
Soro was found guilty of illicitly buying a mansion in Marcory Résidentiel, an affluent quarter of Abidjan, for 1.5 billion CFA francs (US$2.54 million), using funds from the public treasury.
The court heard that the purchase took place in December 2007, while he was serving as prime minister in a government of national unity.
Accusations fly
Besides the 20-year sentence, Soro was fined 4.5 billion CFA francs ($7.56 million) for “embezzlement of public funds” and “money laundering”. The state has confiscated his house and he has been deprived of his civil rights.
He was also ordered to pay CFA2 billion ($3.36 million) in damages to the Ivorian public treasury.
Lawyers for the accused boycotted the hearing, which lasted about three hours, saying it was a politically motivated trial.
The ruling is likely to thwart Soro’s ambitions. With just seven months to go to the 2020 Ivorian elections, his chances of being able to run for the presidency are dwindling.
Unless he appeals successfully, the former rebel leader will be barred from taking part in the 31 October polls.
Parody, non-event, or execution?
Speaking from his base in Paris, where he has been domiciled since a failed attempt to relocate back to Côte d’Ivoire at the end of December last year, Soro said the whole trial had been trumped up to get rid of him, and that he considers the verdict “a non-event”.
He has described the sentence as an “attempt at political execution”.
“The parody of a trial we have witnessed today is the ultimate proof that the rule of law is definitively buried by Alassane Ouattara,” a statement from Soro said. “I am maintaining my candidacy for the presidency and I ask all my supporters to remain mobilised.”
He later tweeted, “The mock trial we have witnessed today is the ultimate proof that the rule of law is finally buried by Alassane Ouattara.”
Political fallout
Ouattara and Soro were once allies.
Soro played a key role in helping Ouattara come to power by leading northern rebels during the civil war that followed Ouattara’s disputed election victory in 2010.
He later became prime minister of Côte d’Ivoire under Ouattara and then president of the National Assembly. However, the two men fell out and now have irreconcilable political differences.
When President Ouattara announced that he would not be running for a third term, he made it clear that he would oppose Soro’s ambitions to become president and support Amadou Gon Coulibaly, the current prime minister.
Soro is still seen as a prime candidate who could attract support from young voters. He is believed to retain the loyalty of many of the former rebel commanders who are now top brass in the Ivorian army.
Eugene Selorm Owusu
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