By Roy Lie A Tjam.
On Friday 26 September 2014, H.E. Mr Sallah Ben Abdelkader Hamza, Ambassador of Côte d’Ivoire to the Netherlands, hosted a reception at the Hotel Crowne Plaza. The occasion was his country’s National Day. No palm wine was served, but aloko, a special local dish, was in abundance.
For more than three decades after independence under the leadership of its first president, Felix Houphouët-Boigny, Ivory Coast was conspicuous for its religious and ethnic harmony and its well-developed economy.
In Ivory Coast Independence Day is also a national holiday. The day is filled with cultural activities and parties. Bangui, the local palm wine, and aloko, ripe banana fried in palm oil are served aplenty. Military parades and processions are also held in the capital city of Cote d’Ivoire – Yamoussoukro. The audience, consisting of none Ivoirian invitees and patriots, all enjoyed the soirée Ivoirienne.
