In a move thats shaking up Ivory Coasts education scene the government has put a stop to all student unions. This decision comes after a deadly incident involving police and a well-connected student group which left two students dead and 17 people in handcuffs.
The group in question‚ FESCI (a student union) has been around since the early 90s. It started out as a way for students to have a voice but over time it got mixed up in some shady business. The government says they found weapons and illegal stuff going on in FESCIs student housing during a raid.
Sié Kambou‚ the big boss of FESCI‚ got picked up by the cops. They think he might know something about the deaths. The prosecutor said‚ “No crime can be done in FESCI without Sié Kambou knowing about it“
FESCIs story is a bit of a rollercoaster. It started off fighting the old president‚ then got cozy with the next one (Laurent Gbagbo). When Gbagbo lost the election about 13 years ago things got messy – FESCI was accused of attacking people who didnt like Gbagbo.
FESCI was an avant-garde association serving students and pupils in Côte dʼIvoire
These days‚ FESCI controls a lot of student housing. Some say theyre charging too much for not-so-great rooms. But with about 100000 members (thats like 1 in 3 students) FESCI is still a big deal.
The government is tearing down FESCIs main office‚ but some folks dont think itll be enough to really shut them down. Seems like this story isnt over yet