IVORY COAST: Mutinying soldiers block access to Bouake

Disgruntled soldiers in Ivory Coast who are staging a revolt over pay dispute with the government have reportedly blocked access roads to Bouake, the second largest city in the country.

The troops, majority of whom are ex-rebel fighters who helped bring President Alassane Ouattara to power, are now taking their protests further by blocking roads leading north and south out of Bouake.

“We do not want to negotiate with anyone,” Sergeant Seydou Kone, one of the leaders of the uprising, said.

“We’re also ready to fight if we are attacked. We have nothing to lose,” he added.

Read also: IVORY COAST: Soldiers revolt over pay dispute

The unrest broke out hours after national television broadcast a ceremony in which a spokesman for 8,400 mutinous soldiers apologised to Ouattara for a rebellion in January, and dropped demands for extra pay.

Reports say the government paid the 8,400 troops behind January’s rebellion bonuses of 5 million CFA francs ($8,370) each as part of an agreement to end that mutiny.

The soldiers were due a staggered payment of an additional 7 million CFA francs.

But they said the government asked for a delay in payment to ease financial pressure on the Treasury, citing a collapse in cocoa revenues, a development which has not gone down well with the soldiers and has now caused a mutiny.

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