The President of the Ivorian National Assembly Amadou Soumahoro died on Saturday at the age of 68, according to a press release from the President of the Republic Alassane Ouattara.
“I have the deep pain to announce the death, this Saturday, May 7, 2022, of the President of the National Assembly, my younger brother, Amadou Soumahoro”, indicates the text.
“I pay tribute to a great statesman, whose commitment and political career have marked our country. Côte d’Ivoire is losing a brave son, a man of conviction and duty. I am losing a faithful companion, a loyal and devoted friend,” continues the Head of State.
President of the Assembly since March 2019, he has made long stays abroad in recent months for medical reasons. Amadou Soumahoro was a figure in Ivorian politics and a loyal supporter of President Alassane Ouattara.
He is one of the founding members of the Rassemblement des Républicains (RDR), the historic party of Mr. Ouattara, in 1994. Mayor of the city of Séguéla from 1996 to 2013, he had contributed to the establishment of the party in the north from the country.
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This graduate of the Institute of International Economic Relations in Paris (1979), with a specialty in international trade, had been Minister several times, for Foreign Trade in 2002 then for Trade between 2003 and 2005 in a unity government under the presidency by Laurent Gbagbo. After the election of Alassane Ouattara, he held the position of Special Advisor to the President of the Republic in charge of political affairs, from 2011 to 2017.
Between 2018 and 2019, Amadou Soumahoro was promoted to minister to the head of state, still in charge of political affairs.
During his absence in recent months, he was replaced by one of the vice-presidents of the Assembly, Adama Bictogo, a member of the Rassemblement des Houphouëtistes pour la Paix (RHDP), the ruling party.
Côte d’Ivoire has been bereaved several times by the disappearances of political leaders in recent years. In July 2020, Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly died from heart problems. His successor, Hamed Bakayoko died in March 2021 of overwhelming cancer.
Source: Africanews