Pecohub Ivory Coast voted in a presidential election that unfolded on Saturday without major disruption, with incumbent and strong favourite Alassane Ouattara, 83, claiming credit for nearly 15 years of economic growth and relative stability while hinting it will be his final campaign.
Turnout appeared weak at many polling stations in Abidjan, the commercial capital.
In more than a dozen opposition strongholds outside Abidjan, voting was impeded by protesters blocking roads and burning or stealing election materials, according to a team of observers from the national human rights council.
The army said 30 polling stations in the centre-west region of Haut Sassandra were vandalised, but 97% were secure.
More than 8 million people were registered to vote. Polling stations were due to close at 6 p.m. local time (1800 GMT), and counting began right away in the Abidjan districts of Abdjame, Cocody and Yopougon, according to Reuters witnesses.
Provisional results are expected within five days. A runoff will be held if no candidate wins more than 50% of the vote.
A former international banker and deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Ouattara took power in 2011 after a four-month civil war that killed around 3,000 people. The war was triggered by the refusal of his predecessor, Laurent Gbagbo, to acknowledge defeat in the 2010 election.
Announcing his candidacy in July, Ouattara said a fourth term would be one of “generational transmission”. This week he acknowledged that “it’s not easy to work at the same pace” now that he is in his 80s.
Ivory Coast’s median age is 18.
As polling stations opened at 0800 GMT in the Adjame district of Abidjan, even Ouattara’s supporters said he should be nearing the end of his career.
“He has really changed the image of Ivory Coast, but this should be his last mandate. We need to pass the torch to the new generation,” said Souamane Cisse, a 44-year-old driver.
