Embark on reconciliation, Raila tells Ouatara

By Steve Mkawale Prime Minister Raila Odinga has urged Ivory Coast’s President-elect Alassane Ouatara to immediately embark on reconciling and uniting his country.
In an interview with the New York Times in the US following the defeat of former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo, Raila said his reign "came to an expected end."
He also urged the people of Ivory Coast to denounce any further acts of war and destruction and instead focus on reconstructing their country. Raila asked the President-elect to incorporate supporters of Mr Gbagbo into the government for the sake of uniting and reconstructing the country.
During an interview, Raila, who served as the AU-mediator on the Ivory Coast crisis, said he has full confidence that Outara has the capacity and will to unite the West African country.
Raila said he was not surprised when Gbagbo’s hold on power ended as it did with a violent overthrow and loss of lives.
Demoralised
"I saw it coming. Gbagbo was digging for a war I knew he could not win and I told him as much. His troops had been very demoralised. When his representative was removed from the regional bank, I knew Gbagbo was not going to pay the soldiers even the little salaries he had been paying them. Things got worse for him when cocoa importers cut their business with the country by up to 40 per cent," Raila said.
He fell short of declaring that African presidents misled Gbagbo into a false sense of security, but said he had a feeling a number of African leaders did not tell the deposed former president the truth.
Saying there is "a big difference" between Mr Gbagbo and Mr Ouatara, Raila said he is confident the President-elect has what it takes to unite and rebuild Ivory Coast.
Unity
Recalling his discussions with Mr Gbagbo and Mr Ouatara, the Prime Minister said the President-elect was always willing to accommodate Gbagbo’s people in government for the sake of unity.
Raila recalled that during the negotiations, Gbagbo appeared to indicate he would surrender power if Ouatara agreed to include 25 per cent of his people into the new government.
"When I floated this to Ouatara, he told me he was ready to take up to 30 per cent of (President) Gbagbo’s people, but Gbagbo was not keen on keeping his word."
Raila regretted that Gbagbo rejected "so many lucrative offers" only to end up under arrest.
"I gave Gbagbo a number of offers that I had negotiated with the international community, including the US and EU on his behalf. I told him he could surrender and remain in the country where he would remain active politically if he chose to, without being hauled to court.
"I also offered him to go into exile and be a lecturer in Boston University. The US had given me that offer. All that is lost now," Raila said.