Ivorian PM Hamed Bakayoko died of cancer in Germany
Ivory Coast Prime Minister Hamed Bakayoko died of cancer in Germany on Wednesday at the age of 56, the government announced. Bakayoko, a possible successor to current Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara, was receiving treatment at a hospital in Freiburg.
Bakayoko was recently transferred to Germany after traveling to Paris a month ago for medical care. Ouattara had met with Bakayoko in France last week, with the president describing him as a "great statesman."
“Our country is in mourning,” President Alassane Ouattara said in a Twitter post.
“It is with great sorrow that I announce the death of Prime Minister Hamed Bakayoko, head of state, minister of defense… in Germany, as a result of cancer,” he added, describing Bakayoko as “a great statesman, a model for our youth, a personality of great generosity and exemplary loyalty”.
"The prime minister served Ivory Coast with dedication and selflessness," said Ouattara in a statement expressing his condolences.
African Development Bank Group President Akinwumi A. Adesina said he was "very saddened" by Bakayoko's death in a tweet. "May his soul rest in peace," he said.
The government said in a statement on Friday that Ouattara had met Bakayoko during a visit to France last week, and given the state of the minister's health, it was recommended that his hospitalization should be extended.
The prime minister's prolonged absence led Ouattara to appoint his close confidant and chief of staff Patrick Achi as interim prime minister.
Bakayoko "was a key player in the political game and a major player in reconciliation. It's a true shame", said Issiaka Sangare, spokesman for the opposition Ivorian Popular Front.
How he won parliamentary
Bakayoko abandoned medical school to launch Le Patriote's newspaper in the early 1990s, enabling him to build ties with various actors on the Ivorian political scene.
His move to head the Ivory Coast subsidiary of French Radio Nostalgie in 1993 opened the world of showbiz to Bakayoko, who rose to become the head of the radio's African operations in 2000.
He was first appointed minister of telecommunications and new technologies in 2003, a position he held until a disputed presidential election in 2010 that led to a brief civil war after former president Laurent Gbagbo refused accept the results.
After the war, Ouattara appointed Bakayoko as interior minister in 2011. He held the position until a series of army mutinies by disgruntled soldiers in 2017 saw him hand over the defense portfolio to reform the army.
Known for his rowdy political campaigns, Bakayoko was elected mayor of the poor Abidjan district of Abobo in 2018.
He won the parliamentary seat for the Seguela district with 90 percent of the vote in Saturday's legislative election without campaigning in person, results published on Sunday showed.
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