Houphouët-Boigny, recognized defender of equal rights between exploited black people and their French colonialist masters, was not for the independence of the colonies but for failing to have rallied the independence leaders to the Gaullist project of the Franco-African Community, he reluctantly proclaimed the independence of Côte d’Ivoire on August 7, 1960.
Feeling the French empire in Africa disintegrating under the pressure of independence leaders, General De Gaulle submitted to the Africans the idea of ??Community, introduced in the French constitution of 1958. This project aims to give the Africans, as people, the same rights as the French. The colonies will then have the status of an autonomous State, but without the attributes of a worthy State, that is to say, without being able to decide on questions of defense, foreign policy, economic, monetary and even raw materials. .
Félix Houphouët, who had already defended the rights of planters and who had spoken out against forced labor, immediately believ
ed in this Community project, became a fervent defender of it and campaigned with the other leaders of French West Africa for the benefit of ‘yes’ to the referendum organized in 1958. Only the Guinean Sékou Touré said no to the project, preferring freedom in poverty to opulence in slavery.
And even though other leaders like Maurice Yameogo or Modiba Kéita ended up lining up behind the Ivorian leader, they were not so convinced. In any case, the creation of the Mali Federation in April 1959 with Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin and Senegal on board dealt a mortal blow to the Community. Without forgetting that its neighbor Ghana, independent in 1957, wanted through its leader Kwame N’Krumah the independence of all the colonies in order to move towards pan-Africanist unions.
Faced with this situation, and especially since France already had its plans, Houphouët Boigny had to proclaim the independence of his country, he who only wanted autonomy while maintaining a strong link with France.
Pierre Nadjui, in his book ‘
Houphouët, the man of France in Africa’ explains that Kwame Nkrumah, visiting his neighbor Houphouët in April 1957, suggested that he demand the independence of Côte d’Ivoire. To which Houphouët would have replied that the choice of Ghana, although attractive, was not bad for the development of the country.
He said, ‘because of the human relationships between French and Africans and taking into account the imperative of the century, the interdependence of peoples, we felt that it was perhaps more interesting to try an experiment different from yours and unique in its kind, that of a Franco-African community based on equality and fraternity.
Source: Burkina Information Agency