ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Dame Touré rushed to quickly gather what she could as bulldozers rolled into her neighborhood in Ivory Coast’s fast-growing economic hub Abidjan. Her three children joined her, stuffing plastic bags with clothes and other items they could grab, before their home was left in ruins as armed security forces looked on.
Touré’s home was one of hundreds crushed in a wave of destruction in February targeting Abidjan’s underdeveloped areas.
The government says this comes amid public health concerns as poor areas – built along a lagoon in this port city of 6.3 million on West Africa’s southern coast – suffer deadly flooding during the rainy season. More than 300 people have been killed since 2005 and officials say the floods are becoming breeding grounds for waterborne and other diseases.
“My children and I are now sleeping under the sun,” said Touré, 50. “We don’t know where to go.”
Demolitions in low-income neighborhoods are nothing new in Abidjan, where rapid urbanization has led to population growth and housing shortages, with almost one in five Ivorians living in the city. It’s a challenge in many parts of Africa, where economic problems are driving more people to cities in search of better opportunities, putting pressure on already overburdened infrastructure.
However, the latest demolitions in Abidjan – mainly in impoverished suburbs in the Gesco and Sebroko districts – are one of the largest in years, with hundreds of thousands of residents estimated to have been affected since they started in late January. Evicted families and rights groups say this time it is happening without notice or compensation.
Analysts say many African governments are struggling to control population explosions in cities and meet growing infrastructure needs. Chimezie Anajama, policy researcher and founder of the non-profit organization Blooming Social Pen, says few governments have managed to solve the development problem.
“There must be a strong commitment from various African governments to come up with creative solutions to address infrastructure gaps in African cities,” Anajama said.
Local authorities have defended the demolition, saying the relocation of homeless families to safer areas has begun.
About 35% of Ivorians are poor. Water shortages are a daily bane, with many having to fetch water from streams for their daily needs. The country has also faced other challenges, such as jihadist attacks that have spread to coastal states in West Africa, including Ivory Coast.
“The aim is to provide these people with a decent living environment,” Ivory Coast Communications Minister Amadou Coulibaly said of the demolition campaigns. He claimed in February that some of those evicted from neighborhoods like Boribana are being resettled in at least a thousand government-built houses.
However, many families remain homeless and stranded in different parts of the city.
The demolition works are being carried out in a “brutal manner… causing disastrous consequences for many families who are already vulnerable,” the Ivorian League for Human Rights said in a statement. It called on authorities to stop the campaign.
Among the victims of the destruction were nearly 2,000 schoolchildren from Cha Hélène College in the Yopougon neighborhood, which was reduced to rubble in February.
The school was not informed that it would be demolished – neither by Ivory Coast’s Ministry of Construction nor by the national ministry of education, said Sévérin Okpo Abe, the school’s founder. The children were eventually enrolled in other nearby schools.
Most evicted residents who do not sleep in the open have moved to other parts of Ivory Coast or are squatting with residents elsewhere.
“We have become homeless in our own country,” said Aimée Ouédraogo, spokesperson for women affected by the forced evictions.
The evictions have broken up families and scattered the homeless across the city, she added. “We no longer have a house, we no longer have our family, we no longer have our children next to us.”
Amid the outrage and protest of deportees, Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara has asked local authorities in Abidjan to “show solidarity… to maintain cohesion and social peace.”
However, city officials say the demolition is part of a broader project to reconstruct the areas and provide basic services. Plots would be rented to those evicted for up to 25 years, for about $16 a month, they say.
On April 8, the government announced that it had begun compensating affected households and would each receive about $405 to support the move. In a country where the minimum wage is about $121 per month, some believe this is not enough to pay for the growing costs of housing.
“All displaced persons will receive the necessary support for their relocation,” said Belmonde Dogo, the minister responsible for poverty alleviation efforts.
The predominantly working-class municipality of Yopougon has also announced plans to help those affected.
But many like Touré say they were overwhelmed with helplessness as they watched bulldozers tear through their neighborhoods.
“I have no one in Abidjan and I have no money to buy a house,” said the mother of three, not knowing how to proceed. “I can not do it.”
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Associated Press writer Chinedu Asadu in Abuja, Nigeria, contributed to this report.
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