The creation of a political party is generally associated with key personalities and/or a political ideology. Rarely, however, is its territorial rooting considered. This article examines the case of Tonkpi – the former Dix-Huit Montagnes region in western Côte d’Ivoire – over the long course of history from the 1950s to the present.
It studies the convergence of political marginalization in this region that borders on Guinea and Liberia, and the regional rooting of a political party – the Union pour la democracy et la paix en Côte d’Ivoire (Union for democracy and peace in Côte d’Ivoire – UDPCI), founded in 2001 by Robert Gueï. Since the assassination of Gueï during a putsch in 2002, UDPCI has sought to find a national audience via its president, Albert Mabri Toikeusse, but the party continues to be perceived as an ethno-regional party from Tonkpi.
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