August 02, (THEWILL) – A former President of Ivory Coast, Henri Konan Bedie, has died, aged 89.
Although the cause of his death remains unclear, a statement by his party, the “Ivory Coast Democratic Party-African Democratic Rally (PDCI-RDA), said Bedie died on Tuesday night.
“The Ivory Coast Democratic Party-African Democratic Rally (PDCI-RDA) is deeply saddened to announce the sudden death of Bedie in hospital in Abidjan Tuesday”, it said.
State media reported that he was rushed from his hometown of Daoukro, in central Ivory Coast on Tuesday evening, after falling ill. He arrived by helicopter around 8 p.m. at a hospital in Abidjan, where he passed away.
Born in 1934 to a family of cocoa planters, Bedie was the chosen successor to Ivory Coast’s founding father Felix Houphouet-Boigny, who ruled over the West African nation from independence from France in 1960 until his death in 1993, aged 88.
A career diplomat and politician, Bédié was head of state in the West African nation from 1993 to 1999, before he was overthrown by the military in the country’s first-ever coup.
Dubbed the “Sphinx of Daoukro” after his native town and economy with words, Bedie demonstrated a skill for political survival. He was known for promoting the concept of “Ivoirité,” which stoked ethnic and religious tensions and corresponded to an uptick in violence against immigrant groups in the country
He tried unsuccessfully to return as president in 2000, 2010 and 2020.
