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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Ivory Coast
Index
Figure 14. Organization of Ivoirian Defense Forces
Source: Based on information from Côte Ivoire, Ministère de
l'Information, Annuaire Administratif, 1985; and United
States, Department of the Army, Abidjan Report, No. 6 851 5020 85,
November 21, 1985.
Like its French model, the Côte d'Ivoire Constitution
of 1960
provides for a highly centralized form of government that
vests
enormous power in the office of the president,
particularly in the
areas of national sovereignty, independence, territorial
integrity,
and military and security affairs
(see The Constitution
, ch. 4).
Article 17 empowers the president to appoint the civil and
military
officers of the state, and Article 18 designates the
president
commander in chief of the armed forces. The president is
authorized
by Article 19 to take "such exceptional measures as are
required"
to deal with serious and immediate threats to national
independence, territorial integrity, or the execution of
international commitments. The National Assembly (Assemblé
Nationale) is empowered to pass laws regarding martial
law, states
of emergency, and the principles of national defense
organization
(Article 41) and to declare war (Article 42). The Council
of
Ministers, over which the president presides, is
authorized by
Article 43 to declare martial law, which may be extended
beyond two
weeks only by the National Assembly.
In 1988 three main interministerial councils and
advisory
bodies were concerned with coordinating the various
departments and
soliciting technical advice in matters of defense. Chaired
by the
president, the Defense Committee consisted of the
ministers
concerned with defense policy and the chief of staff; it
met to
make government decisions in defense matters. The High
Defense
Council, which included the inspector general and chief of
staff of
the armed forces and the commandant of the National
Gendarmerie
(Gendarmerie Nationale), provided technical military
advice,
justifications, and recommendations to the Defense
Committee. The
High Committee on Intelligence, which was under the
authority of
the president, guided and coordinated record keeping,
documentation, and intelligence services.
Defense organization had both central and regional
components.
At the national level, the president was the supreme
authority. As
commander in chief of the armed forces, the president
directed and
coordinated defense policy. The president was assisted in
this by
the minister of defense and by other ministers as
required.
The minister of defense had two distinct but related
functions:
assisting the president in all defense matters and
executing
military policy. In the exercise of these functions the
minister of
defense had direct authority over the chief of staff of
the armed
forces, who also served as commander of all the armed
forces, and
the inspector general of the armed forces, who was
responsible for
central administration,
(see
fig. 13).
There has been remarkable continuity in the senior
civilian and
military defense posts. Jean Konan Banny served as
minister of
defense in the early 1960s, until he was implicated in a
1963 coup
plot. His successor, Kouadio M'Bahia Blé, served as
minister of
defense for more than seventeen years, from September 1963
to
February 1981, before the pardoned and politically
rehabilitated
Banny returned to the post. The first chief of staff,
Brigadier
General Thomas D'Anquin Wattara (who in August 1966 became
the
first Ivoirian general), held that post between 1961 and
1974.
Wattara's successors, however, have had shorter tenures.
In
November 1987, President Houphouët-Boigny replaced the
most senior
army officers with new men; Brigadier General Félix Ory
succeeded
Major General Bertin Zézé Baroan as chief of staff, and
Brigadier
Joseph Ballou replaced retiring Major General Ibrahim
Coulibaly as
inspector general. In December 1987, the Ministry of
Defense
absorbed the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, and Banny
became
minister of defense and maritime affairs.
By decree in November 1963, the minister of defense was
empowered to carry out government policy in military
matters; to
establish and oversee the National Service (Service
Civique), an
organization in which young men and women participated in
the
economic development of the country, especially in the
rural areas;
to review the organization of the armed forces, the
National
Gendarmerie, and the National Service and to present plans
to the
president as required; to administer and evaluate the
mobilization
and use of the armed forces and military requirements; to
oversee
veterans affairs; to prepare and execute budgets and
programs for
the ministry; and to present to the president or the
Defense
Committee all proposals for international negotiation
concerning
defense matters.
In 1984 the ministry's headquarters staff was budgeted
for 529
billets (including 31 French technical assistance
personnel). Most
of the billets were allocated as follows: the cabinet
received 46;
the Central Administrative Services, 244; the Armed Forces
of Côte
d'Ivoire (Force Armée Nationale de Côte d'Ivoire--FANCI),
116; the
Ivoirian Air Force (Force Aérienne de Côte
d'Ivoire--FACI), 81; and
the Presidential Guard and Militia (Garde Presidentielle
et Milice-
-GPM), 7.
Since May 1972, local defense organization has been
based on a
territorial division of responsibility between the
civilian
prefectures (préfectures) under the minister of
interior and
the military regions under the minister of defense. This
arrangement superseded a system of departmental commands.
The
minister of interior, supported as required by the
minister of
defense, was responsible for civil defense. Initially,
three
military regions were established with headquarters, at
Abidjan,
Daloa, and Bouaké. In July 1984, the country was
reorganized into
four military regions. The fourth region was centered at
Korhogo in
order to provide better defense coverage to the sparsely
populated
but politically sensitive northern territories. In each
prefecture,
the prefect (préfet) was responsible for all
nonmilitary
matters having a bearing on defense
(see Local Government
, ch. 4).
On the regional level, the military commandant was
specifically
charged with defense responsibilities. This system
required close
cooperation and coordination between the regional military
commanders and the civilian prefects. Each military
garrison was
under a commanding officer, who represented the regional
commandant
and whose functions were prescribed by decree in December
1971.
The military regions provided active-duty forces and an
administrative structure for civilian and military defense
planning. Each region comprised between six and twelve
prefectures
under a territorial commander who reported to the minister
of
defense through the chief of staff of the armed forces.
The regions
provided liaison service for the local political and
administrative
authorities, prepared plans for the protection of
sensitive
military and civilian assets in the region, coordinated
regional
and local military and civilian defense measures,
maintained
operational readiness, and conducted military exercises as
required. The regional military commands did not have any
organic
logistical resources but rather drew on central support
services.
Data as of November 1988
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