Tempers Flare in Korhogo and New Forces Calm the Troubled Waters

Tempers flared today in Korhogo as the teachers and others who had worked for the Independent Electoral Commission demanded their salaries for the long day they worked on Sunday. They were at their posts before the polls opened at seven and many did not finish the vote count until midnight. A crowd of several hundred besieged the office of the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI). "We're hungry! We need our money!" they called out. "It's not right. We worked. Now we need our pay!"

There were 713 polling places in the Department of Korhogo, with three election officials working at each. The pollworker who served as president is due a salary of 15,000 CFA (about $32.00), and the other two are each supposed to receive 10,000 CFA (about $21.00).

The political chief of the ex-rebellion New Forces in Korhogo, Kagnigué Soro (in black striped shirt) promised that the money would arrive shortly.




The New Forces Commander of Korhogo, Martin K. Fofié, made a rare public appearance at the office of the Independent Electoral Commission about noon on Tuesday. Below he is seen greeting United Nations security forces on his arrival. Fofié has been sanctioned by the United Nations for an incident during the rebellion in which prisoners who had been locked in a container suffocated.

The pollworkers moved to the Prefecture and waited, but at nightfall, not a franc had been distributed. Nawa Soro, who was waiting outside the Prefecture, worked as secretary at a polling place in Daboka. "It went so well. We don't want problems now," he said. "But we need the money."