Robert Guéï (; 16 March 1941 – 19 September 2002) was the military ruler of the
Ivory Coast from 24 December 1999 to 26 October 2000.
Biography
Guéï was born in
Kabakouma, a village in the western
Man Department, and was a member of the
Yacouba ethnic community. He was a career soldier: under the French administration, he was trained at the
Ouagadougou
Ouagadougou ( , , ) is the capital and largest city of Burkina Faso and the administrative, communications, cultural, and economic centre of the nation. It is also the country's largest city, with a population of 2,415,266 in 2019. The city's ...
military school and the
St Cyr military school in France. He was an ardent supporter of longtime President
Félix Houphouët-Boigny
Félix Houphouët-Boigny (; 18 October 1905 – 7 December 1993), affectionately called Papa Houphouët or Le Vieux ("The Old One"), was the first president of Ivory Coast, serving from 1960 until his death in 1993. A tribal chief, he wo ...
, who in 1990 appointed him chief of the army following a
mutiny. After the death of Houphouët-Boigny in 1993, Guéï became distanced from the new leader
Henri Konan Bédié
Aimé Henri Konan Bédié (born 5 May 1934) is an Ivorian politician. He was President of Ivory Coast from 1993 to 1999. He is currently the President of the Democratic Party of Ivory Coast - African Democratic Rally (PDCI-RDA). . Guéï's refusal to mobilize his troops to resolve a political struggle between Bédié and the opposition leader
Alassane Ouattara in October 1995 led to his dismissal. He was made a minister but sacked again in August 1996 and forced out of the army in January 1997.
Bédié was overthrown in a
coup on Christmas Eve, 1999. Although Guéï had no role in the coup, the popular general was encouraged out of retirement to head the
junta until the next elections. On 4 January 2000, he became President of the Republic. Guéï stood in the
October 2000 presidential election as an independent. He only allowed one opposition candidate,
Laurent Gbagbo
Koudou Laurent Gbagbo
, FPI website .
, to run against him. Guéï was soundly defeated by Gbagbo but refused to recognize the result. It took a spate of street protests to bring Gbagbo to power. Guéï fled to
Gouessesso
Gouessesso is a village in western Ivory Coast. It is in the sub-prefecture of Biankouma, Biankouma Department, Tonkpi Region, Montagnes District
Montagnes District (french: District des Montagnes) is one of fourteen administrative districts of ...
, near the
Liberian border, but remained a figure in the political scene. He was included in a reconciliation forum in 2001 and agreed to refrain from undemocratic methods.
Guéï withdrew from the forum agreement in September 2002, but was killed along with his wife, former
First Lady Rose Doudou Guéï, and their children on 19 September 2002, in the
Cocody district of
Abidjan
Abidjan ( , ; N’ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, making it the sixth most populous city p ...
at the first hours of the
civil war
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
. The circumstances of his death remain mysterious, although generally attributed to forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo. Several members of his family and the interior minister,
Émile Boga Doudou, were also killed.
Following Guéï's death, his body stayed in a morgue until a funeral was held for him in Abidjan on 18 August 2006, nearly four years after his death.
"IVORY COAST: Funeral for former military ruler Robert Guei, nearly four years after he was shot dead during the coup of 2001"
ITN Source: 19 August 2006. Retrieved 11 April 2011.
See also
* First Ivorian Civil War
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guei, Robert
1941 births
2002 deaths
Presidents of Ivory Coast
Assassinated Ivorian politicians
People murdered in Ivory Coast
People from Montagnes District
Ivorian military personnel
Government ministers of Ivory Coast
Independent politicians in Ivory Coast
2000s murders in Ivory Coast
2002 crimes in Ivory Coast
2002 murders in Africa