Vincent Djiropo and Dominique Mensah, two leaders of the Winnin indigenous peoples, originally from the southwest of Côte d’Ivoire, appeared yesterday, Monday January 13, 2025, before the investigating judge of the Court of First Instance of San Pedro, 1 months after their detention by local police.
And for good reason, the latter were accused of breaching public order and disclosing false information in the context of a dispute concerning the management of a protected forest.
They have since been joined by 18 other people, nationals of the cantons of the classified forest of Monogaga, located in the San-Pedro region, accused of disturbing public order by the Ivorian justice system, after having demonstrated demanding the release of their aforementioned community leaders.
They also denounced the grabbing of their land, through a controversial privatization process of the Monogaga classified forest, with a density of 39,828 hectares (98,000 acres), granted to the Ivorian NGO Roots Wild Foundation (RWF ) by the Ivorian State, for an agroforestry and eco-tourism development project.
In February 2024, RWF was entrusted with the development project of this forest classified in 1973, which was managed until then by the Ministry of Water and Forests, with the objective of developing agroforestry, promoting conservation forest relics and wildlife, and transform the coastline into an internationally renowned tourist destination.
-Despite its protected status, it has remained inhabited by communities for the past 50 years, including the indigenous Winnin people, whose existence also depends on it.
According to Daleba Nahounou, coordinator of the “Social and Climate Justice” program, “within the Ivorian branch of the international NGO Young Volunteers for the Environment (JVE), the villagers would not have been taken into account in the implementation of this project.
P. KONAN (Intern)
