Ex-combatants who fought in support of President Alassane Ouattara voluntarily surrender their arms to national authorities in the presence of United Nations peacekeepers, in the Abobo neighborhood of Abidjan, Wednesday, Feb.
In particular, the government must control the former rebel commanders who control the most critical units within the Ivorian military—the Republican Guard, the Special Forces, and the best-equipped units of the ground army. However, many of these individuals have their own bases of power, independent of the ruling regime in Abidjan. Frequently, this power is rooted in the networks and institutions built up during nearly a decade of civil war. Former rebel commanders have considerable economic resources at their disposal and maintain personal ties with a wide array of actors: local community elites outside the capital, ex-combatants who have not fully reintegrated into civilian life, and civilian politicians of various affiliations inside the National Assembly parliament.
The top-ranking FAFN commanders, known as commandants de zone, oversaw both the recruitment and training of new soldiers as well as the provision of basic services for the populations under their control. In many cases, the FN relied heavily on the collaboration of local community leaders—traditional chiefs, teachers, and civil society organizers—to facilitate their access to the population.
FN rule thereby created a thick web of formal and informal affiliations, patron-client ties, and personal friendships that intertwined community members with rebel governance structures.
Moreover, many former comzones retain access to private stocks of arms and ammunition that were never turned over to the national DDR program. Several commanders have remained important public and political figures in regions where they were able to build a reputation of effective rulership during the armed conflict, and where they have generously distributed patronage resources. And then he brings help to the population. Despite the redeployment of state police forces across former rebel-held territory, middle and upper-ranking ex-FAFN officers remain central actors for maintaining order and security within these regions.
