By Agency Reporter   Thursday, 27 Jan 2011

Ownership and control of the Francophone West African Central Bank on Wednesday in Abidjan opened a new chapter of conflict between the two presidents of Cote d’Ivoire.

Internationally recognised President of Cote d’Ivoire, Alassane Ouattara, on Wednesday ordered that the headquarters and branches of the central bank in Abidjan be closed, but outgoing President Laurent Gbagbo said they must continue their operations.

The BCEAO came into the spotlight in the Ivorian political crisis in December when ECOWAS heads of state recognised Ouattara as the president of Cote d’Ivoire and ordered BCEAO to stop all access to funds by Gbagbo.

Ouattara said the Governor of the bank, Philippe-Henri Dacoury-Tabley, an alleged ally of Gbagbo, however, gave about 100 billion CFAs to Gbagbo between December 2010 and January this year.

Dacoury-Tabley resigned his appointment on Saturday, under pressure from the Heads of States of the West African Economic and Monetary Union.

He was replaced by Mr Jean-Baptiste Compaore, who immediately ordered that the headquarters and branches of the central bank be closed.

Gbago ordered the bank to continue its operations and deployed a special security force, gendarmes, to guard all the buildings of the bank in Cote d’Ivoire.

The News Agency of Nigeria quotes Ouattara as saying, “On January 25, 2011, former President Laurent Gbagbo decided to commandeer the national leadership, national agencies and national staff of the BCEAO, introducing a new act of treachery, which aims to plunder the resources of the Ivorian state.

“The President of the Republic, Mr Alassane Ouattara, said that, according to the statutes and agreements on privileges and immunities of the BCEAO, the property and assets of the central bank, wherever they are and by whomsoever held, were immune from search, confiscation, requisition, and expropriation.

Source: Punch