Côte d’Ivoire Peace Committee Prevents Community Violence

In March 2024, two friends, Fofana and Koffi, set out on a hunting trip in a forest near their village of Akakro, as they often did. After successfully bagging their first game, Koffi split away to relieve himself. Fofana kept walking and suddenly thought he spotted a wild boar in the bushes in the distance - but when he shot at it and heard his friend Koffi's cries, he realized with terror his mistake.

Fofana is a Malinké (an ethnic group from the North of Côte d'Ivoire) and for many years, he has rented a house and lived on the compound of Koffi's family, who are Baoulé, which are the indigenous (autochtone) ethnic group of the village in Central Côte d'Ivoire. While these two families lived in peace and friendship, in the village there have been repeated conflicts and tensions between the Baoulés and Malinkés related to political and economic power, land rights, and other issues between the two ethnic groups.

When Fofana realized he had shot his friend, he ran to a nearby Malinke villagé, where he explained what had happened. Word was sent to members of the Baoulé community, who went to recover Koffi in the forest and tried to help him, but he soon succumbed to the injury. Realizing he was now in danger of retributive violence, Fofana asked for refuge. The Baoulé community in Akakro rejected the idea that it had been an accident, and young Baoulé came together to plan a forceful recovery of Fofana to face retribution, which seemed likely to end in lynching.

Perceiving an imminent risk of community clashes, the sub-prefect of M'Bahiakro appealed to the peace committee established by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) under the USAID-funded CORDIAL program. The peace committee is a group of community leaders including women and youth from all of the area's ethnic groups whom NDI has trained in conflict mediation strategies. The committee created two delegations, one of Malinké youth leaders and one of Baoulé youth leaders, which each met with the respective communal groups to calm tensions and mediate peace. They met with the families and convinced the groups to refrain from violence and allow a dialogue to proceed. Then, through intergroup mediation that relied on the interethnic alliance between Baoulés and Malinkés in the region, Koffi's family accepted that the tragedy had been accidental and asked that peace be maintained. This process followed the principle of "people-to-people" engagement in which communities in conflict are helped to understand each other's perspectives and ultimately prefer to resolve conflicts peacefully.

The communities also agreed to allow law enforcement agents to arrest Fofana peacefully and make their investigation without interference, which is often a challenge in sensitive situations like this one. Following the investigation, Fofana was tried before the official tribunal, with peace committee members and community members present. He was convicted of accidental murder and sentenced to three months in prison. The authorities congratulated the members of the peace committee, who made it possible to avoid community confrontation and convinced all parties to accept the verdict rendered by the judge. Without the peace committee's intervention, this court decision could have been rejected by the communities.

After the conflict was resolved, Koffi's father met with the peace committee. He presented them with a rooster, which in local tradition is a gift symbolizing deep appreciation, telling them, "Your intervention helped me… to overcome the pain of the loss of my son and also to prevent the situation from degenerating between our two communities." The peace committee's efforts in Akakro helped the communities to manage this case peacefully and with compassion, understanding, and solidarity.

Authors: Abdramane Soro, Program Associate for NDI Côte d'Ivoire, and Lindsay Robinson, Program Director for NDI Central and West Africa team

NDI's engagement with this program is implemented with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

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