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Military Reform – 2009

The CCI had been established, as provisioned for in the accord, but implementation of other military reform provisions had stalled. Due to financial difficulty, the Integrated Command Center was unable to fully deploy 8,000 personnel (4,000 from the Forces Nouvelles and 4,000 from the Ivorian police and gendarmerie) in mixed brigades.¹ Both sides had agreed to integrate 5,000 Forces Nouvelles combatants into the national army; however, the rank harmonization process hindered progress towards integration. Nevertheless, President Gbagbo signed several decrees on 16 November 2009 intended to resolve rank harmonization issues. By a presidential decree, Forces Nouvelles Chief of Staff, General Soumaila Bakayoko, and the Prime Minister’s Military Adviser, Colonel Michel Gueu, were promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General.² This resolved the technical issue of integrating Forces Nouvelles combatants into the national army.

1. “Twenty-second progress report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Operation in C™te dÕIvoire,” United Nations Security Council (S/2009/495), September 29, 2009.
2. “Twenty-third progress report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Operation in C™te dÕIvoire,” United Nations Security Council (S/2010/15), January 7, 2010.