But 'taking care of your family' at the expense of a country's economy is corruption in anyone's book. One can't be dipping into the communal pot to obtain an excellent lifestyle for one's nearest and dearest. Especially when the nation depending on this pot is largely deprived and poverty-stricken. You're right though Mrrzy, any Ivorian in power's family would expect him to distribute wealth liberally among them!

There are many tribes in Ivory Coast (and indeed in most African countries). Gbagbo exploited this fact by trying to divide off the northern part of the country (which he claimed was actually within the territory of Mali!) since the peoples up there did not support him. My husband, a Senoufo, was worried his ancestral village in the north would be cut off from the rest of Ivory Coast in a sort of No-Man's-Land. While the French were in charge, these things were well managed and at least the country was stable.

Ouattara (new President) has done very little in the way of getting everyday life sorted out for the ordinary folk. The streets are shoulder-high in uncollected rubbish, public transport is appalling and healthcare virtually non-existent. A dead body can lie in the street for days, rotting and bloated, before the fire brigade (!) carts the corpse away. The French would never have tolerated such situations.