Émile Boga Doudou (1952 – September 19, 2002) was an Ivorian politician who was minister of state for the interior and decentralization from 2000 to 2002. He was killed in the failed coup attempt at the start of the Ivorian Civil War.

Early life and career

Doudou was born in 1952 in Domaboué, near

Lakota Lakota may refer to: *Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes *Lakota language Lakota ( ), also referred to as Lakhota, Teton or Teton Sioux, is a Siouan languages, Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of ...

, Côte d'Ivoire.Biography at FPI website
. A lawyer by profession, Doudou was married and had three children. Doudou was a founding member of the

Ivorian Popular Front The Ivorian Popular Front (; abbr. FPI) is a centre-left, democratic socialist and social democratic political party in Ivory Coast. History FPI was founded in exile in 1982 by history professor Laurent Gbagbo, Aboudramane Sangaré, and oth ...

(FPI) in 1982. At the party's Constitutive Congress in 1988, he became a member of the secretariat-general of the FPI; he was subsequently a member of the secretariat-general from 1990 to 2001. He was elected to the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

as an FPI candidate in the November 1990 parliamentary election, and he was re-elected in the November 1995 parliamentary election. In the National Assembly, he was president of the FPI Parliamentary Group. He was a close ally of the FPI leader

Laurent Gbagbo Koudou Laurent Gbagbo
, FPI website . ( G ...

. Following a

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

in December 1999, a

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

was held in October 2000. Gbagbo, the FPI candidate, claimed victory and became president. He then appointed Doudou as minister of state for the interior and decentralization in the government named on October 27, 2000. On December 5, 2000, Doudou controversially showed firearms on national television which armed forces had seized at a mosque. Doudou was elected to the National Assembly again in the December 2000 parliamentary election. He was initially a candidate for the post of president of the National Assembly following the election, but he withdrew his candidacy before the vote was held on January 22, 2001. Mamadou Koulibaly, another member of the FPI, was elected to the post without opposition. Doudou subsequently remained a member of the government. At the FPI's Third Extraordinary Congress, held from July 20 to July 22, 2001,Tidiane Dioh
"Le FPI en ordre de bataille"
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Jeune Afrique ''Jeune Afrique'' (English: ''Young Africa'') is a French-language pan-African weekly news magazine, founded in 1960 in Tunis and subsequently published in Paris by Jeune Afrique Media Group. It is the most widely read pan-African magazine. It o ...

'', July 31, 2001 . Doudou was elected as the third vice-president of the FPI,List of members of the FPI Secretariat-General
FPI website . a newly created position.

Death

He was killed on September 19, 2002, in

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N'ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the largest city and the former capital of Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of the overall population ...

during a failed coup attempt. The uprising began on September 19 with automatic-weapons fire erupting outside a paramilitary police base in Abidjan. "Hundreds" of troops attacked police headquarters and the houses of two ministers. Besides Doudou, at least 80 loyalist soldiers were killed by the rebels. Gunfire and explosions spread to other parts of the Ivorian capital, including central areas and the suburbs. During this, state radio and television were off the air and the international airport was closed. Soldiers shot at motorists who were approaching roadblocks. This attempted coup came while President Laurent Gbagbo was on a state visit to Italy. Violence continued into September 20 and became the basis for the Ivorian Civil War.

Funeral

Doudou's funeral was held on August 1, 2003. His body was moved in a procession from a hospital morgue in

Treichville Treichville is a neighborhood in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. It is one of the 10 urban communes of the city. Treichville is one of four communes of Abidjan that are entirely south of Ébrié Lagoon, the others being Port-Bouët, Koumassi, and Marcory. ...

, Abidjan, to the National Assembly, where deputies paid their last respects to him. A requiem mass was held at the Saint-Paul Cathedral in Plateau, the administrative district of Abidjan, and his body was taken to his home town for burial.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doudou, Emile 1952 births 2002 deaths Members of the National Assembly (Ivory Coast) Ivorian murder victims Government ministers of Ivory Coast People murdered in Ivory Coast Assassinated Ivorian politicians Ivorian Popular Front politicians People from Gôh-Djiboua District 2002 crimes in Ivory Coast 2002 murders in Africa African politicians assassinated in the 2000s 20th-century Ivorian politicians 21st-century Ivorian politicians Politicians assassinated in 2002