Hamed Bakayoko, the Ivorian Prime Minister, died on Wednesday 10 March in Berlin of cancer at the age of 56. He had been evacuated from Côte d’Ivoire for medical reasons on February 18, after a rapid deterioration of his health. Hamed Bakayoko, a pillar of Ivorian politics, of the RDR and then of the RHDP, had long enjoyed great popularity.
It was by the applause meter that we could measure the popularity of “Hambak” as he was nicknamed. Like this evening of August 2019 in the stadium of Abidjan archicomble, during the national funeral of DJ Arafat he called his “son”. He had spoken at length to improvise, emotion in the voice, a tribute to the king of the coupe décalé.
“Hamed”, as Ivorians often call him, was not a great speaker but he had the qualities of a tribune, the voice, the stature, the charisma. He spoke to everyone, even when Côte d’Ivoire was divided into two irreconcilable camps, rendered services, cultivated his networks in all circles, political, artistic, security, diplomatic
His political family used this popularity as an asset. But it also sometimes worried even his own camp. Because the story of Hamed Bakayoko is that of a Balzacian rise, favored in particular by the confidence of Dominique Ouattara, the wife of the president, then of the presidential couple. It is the story of a boy who, with his baccalaureate as his only diploma, successively became a student leader, a journalist, a radio station owner, a member of parliament, the mayor of Abobo, the Minister of the Interior, the Minister of Defense, and then Prime Minister.
Some attributed to him presidential aspirations, especially after the death of his predecessor Amadou Gon Coulibaly in July 2020. It was in any case Alassane Ouattara who replaced his dauphin. Did Hambak then think about the presidential election of 2025 while shaving in the morning? No, I like my life as it is,” replied the Prime Minister to journalists until a few weeks ago, without convincing. Hamed Bakayoko had just been re-elected deputy, despite his absence, in Séguéla.
“Côte d’Ivoire has lost one of its valiant sons, a great servant of the state,” said RHDP executive director Adama Bictogo, who said the party had lost “one of its pillars.
In the opposition, too, they mourn “a great loss. Despite different political choices, “Hamed Bakayoko was not an enemy, on the contrary, but a friend,” says Franck Anderson Kouassi, national secretary of the FPI, who has “many memories” of him. “Before he took up his responsibilities, we had our student years, our years as journalists. We heckled each other a lot. Politically we did not have the same vision, but we were not enemies, quite the contrary. ”
The PDCI also pays tribute to the Prime Minister, a man “dynamic and open” for the vice president of the party, Alphonse Djedjé Mady. “We are very saddened that Hamed Bakayoko, a very dynamic young man has left in this way. He was part of our young dynamic, enthusiastic, friendly executives who is in contact with virtually all social strata of the country. He was noticed by his dynamism, his availability, his open-mindedness. “The PDCI leader also points out that “the loss in less than a year of two Prime Ministers is a calamity that Côte d’Ivoire did not need.