Côte d’Ivoire has one president but two “treasuries” - one official, the other funded from the continued collection of road tolls and other taxes by former rebels.
During the nearly nine years rebels controlled northern Côte d’Ivoire, the civil administration, comprising such things as mayors’ offices and the treasury, did not function and the rebels collected “taxes”.
Months after Alassane Ouattara was finally able to take charge of the country, “parallel” taxation has yet to be eliminated: The disorder and unpredictable extra costs are affecting people’s livelihoods, just as they are looking to bounce back from months of chaos and economic stagnation.
Makoura Dagnogo, a food vendor in the northern city of Korhogo, recently rented a truck for about US$2,000. In the north and south, she came up against various authorities - all part of the Forces Républicaines de Côte d’Ivoire (FRCI), the mixed military who in some areas still act as police, customs, the army and tax collector.
“I pay $750 to the [ex-rebels] in the north then $216 to `customs agents’ in the south,” she said. “So I end up giving all this money to FRCI - and papers I receive in the north are not valid in the south and vice-versa.”
Everyone loses out with this kind of disorder, she told IRIN. “If things were set straight, and tax collection harmonized under just one system, everyone would benefit… We are appealing to the authorities to get us back to a single treasury.”
Putting the fiscal house in order is a critical part of the broader job of normalizing government offices and the army - including deploying tax and customs agents - in a country whose northern half has not had a functioning civilian administration since the 2002 rebellion.
“It is most urgent that the different accounts and treasuries be unified to breathe some life back into the government financial system,” Ivoirian economist Souleymane Ouattara told IRIN.
In a 1 August report on Côte d’Ivoire, International Crisis Group calls on ex-rebel civilian and military leaders to “dismantle” the economic control mechanisms in the parts of Côte d’Ivoire formerly held by rebels - in part by ending all forms of parallel taxation, closing any remaining checkpoints and vacating administrative offices occupied by soldiers since 2002.
Slow return to normality
Things are slowly getting back to normal. A transporter in the northwestern city of Odienné said market vendors and shopowners pay taxes to the municipal authorities, not to the ex-rebels as was the case until recently. But, he said, soldiers are still taking money from truck drivers and others on the road.
Zié Sekongo, bar-restaurant owner and founder of an audiovisual business in Korhogo, said during the current transition anomalies continue and people are being badly affected. “The ex-rebels continue to impose taxes in some areas, and at the same time state institutions like the electric company are beginning to require payment of arrears [since the 2002 rebellion],” he told IRIN.
Peace accords signed between the rebels and then president Laurent Gbagbo called for the re-establishment of a single state budget, but as with many other parts of the accords, it was not carried out.
The current prime minister, Soro Guillaume, was also Gbagbo’s prime minister for several years before Gbagbo’s demise; Soro repeatedly pledged to solve the problem.
Soro “is soon going to launch a vast operation to eliminate this parallel budget which stemmed from the socio-political crisis from 2002,” said Zié Cissé, adviser at the Economy and Finance Ministry. “The Ivoirian government will spare no expense” to rectify this situation, he said.
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During the nearly nine years rebels controlled northern Côte d’Ivoire, the civil administration, comprising such things as mayors’ offices and the treasury, did not function and the rebels collected “taxes”.
Months after Alassane Ouattara was finally able to take charge of the country, “parallel” taxation has yet to be eliminated: The disorder and unpredictable extra costs are affecting people’s livelihoods, just as they are looking to bounce back from months of chaos and economic stagnation.
Makoura Dagnogo, a food vendor in the northern city of Korhogo, recently rented a truck for about US$2,000. In the north and south, she came up against various authorities - all part of the Forces Républicaines de Côte d’Ivoire (FRCI), the mixed military who in some areas still act as police, customs, the army and tax collector.
“I pay $750 to the [ex-rebels] in the north then $216 to `customs agents’ in the south,” she said. “So I end up giving all this money to FRCI - and papers I receive in the north are not valid in the south and vice-versa.”
Everyone loses out with this kind of disorder, she told IRIN. “If things were set straight, and tax collection harmonized under just one system, everyone would benefit… We are appealing to the authorities to get us back to a single treasury.”
Putting the fiscal house in order is a critical part of the broader job of normalizing government offices and the army - including deploying tax and customs agents - in a country whose northern half has not had a functioning civilian administration since the 2002 rebellion.
 We are appealing to the authorities to get us back to a single treasury |
In a 1 August report on Côte d’Ivoire, International Crisis Group calls on ex-rebel civilian and military leaders to “dismantle” the economic control mechanisms in the parts of Côte d’Ivoire formerly held by rebels - in part by ending all forms of parallel taxation, closing any remaining checkpoints and vacating administrative offices occupied by soldiers since 2002.
Slow return to normality
Things are slowly getting back to normal. A transporter in the northwestern city of Odienné said market vendors and shopowners pay taxes to the municipal authorities, not to the ex-rebels as was the case until recently. But, he said, soldiers are still taking money from truck drivers and others on the road.
Zié Sekongo, bar-restaurant owner and founder of an audiovisual business in Korhogo, said during the current transition anomalies continue and people are being badly affected. “The ex-rebels continue to impose taxes in some areas, and at the same time state institutions like the electric company are beginning to require payment of arrears [since the 2002 rebellion],” he told IRIN.
Peace accords signed between the rebels and then president Laurent Gbagbo called for the re-establishment of a single state budget, but as with many other parts of the accords, it was not carried out.
The current prime minister, Soro Guillaume, was also Gbagbo’s prime minister for several years before Gbagbo’s demise; Soro repeatedly pledged to solve the problem.
Soro “is soon going to launch a vast operation to eliminate this parallel budget which stemmed from the socio-political crisis from 2002,” said Zié Cissé, adviser at the Economy and Finance Ministry. “The Ivoirian government will spare no expense” to rectify this situation, he said.
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This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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