Ouattara fires three security chiefs

Alassane Ouattara: sacks security chiefs

President Alassane Ouattara of Cote d’Ivoire issued three decrees late on Monday  firing military and police chiefs to appease restive soldiers.

Those sacked are Army Chief, Gen. Soumaila Bakayoko; Chief Commander of the gendarmerie, Gen. Gervais Kouassi; and Gen. Bredou Mbia, National Police Inspector General.

They were replaced, respectively by Major General Sekou Toure, Brigadier General Nicolas Kouadio Kouakou and Chief Superintendent Youssouf Kouyate, APA reported on Tuesday.

“The President of the Republic, the Army Commander-in-Chief, thanks Generals Soumaila Bakayoko, Gervais Kouassi and Bredou Mbia for their services to the nation,” the Permanent Secretary of the government, Amadou Gon Coulibaly said.

These discharged generals were expected to retire in December 2015, but have been granted an extension of service, due to their recent promotion to higher ranks.

Their sacking occurred 48 hours after a wave of mutinies within the army that shook several cities of the country.

To convince the angered soldiers to go back to their barracks, President Ouattara accepted on Saturday evening to take into consideration, the demands by the mutineers, pertaining to premiums and better living conditions.