Celebrating 64 years of independence: 4595 defense and security forces and civilians mobilized for the grand parade in Grand-Bassam

The official celebration of Côte d’Ivoire’s 64th year of independence took place on Wednesday, August 7, 2024, in Grand-Bassam’.

The ceremony, presided over by H.E.M. Alassane Ouattara, President of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, witnessed the presence of the First Lady, Mrs Dominique Ouattara, as well as numerous political and administrative figures, accredited Ambassadors and Heads of Diplomatic Missions accredited to Côte d’Ivoire, and large numbers of local residents.

The theme of the 64th National Day celebration was “Ivorian Youth and Defense and Security Forces for Civic Commitment and Citizen Responsibility”.

This celebration mobilized 3,801 members of the defense and security forces, as well as paramilitaries and 794 civilians from the country’s various schools of excellence and training centers. This year’s event also saw the high-profile participation of a detachment from the People’s Liberation Army of the People’s Republic of China, based in Djibouti. The 67 officers and soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) support base detachment paraded under the Chinese flag.

In turn, the state flag of 12 military and paramilitary school detachments and 1 special forces detachment paraded in presence of the Head of State, who is also the Head of the Armed Forces.

The air parade for this year’s festivities included a patrol of fixed-wing and a patrol of rotary-wing aircraft. The first patrol comprised a BE-360 (ALISR) and three tactical transport aircraft, including a CASA C295w and two ANTONOV AN 26 aircraft. The second  comprised four H125 light maneuvering helicopters, an MI-24 attack helicopter and an MI-17 tactical transport helicopter. A total of 10 vectors, representing a cross-section of the Air Force’s vector fleet.

The motorcade was an opportunity to show the entire nation the investments made to ensure that the Forces as a whole are up to the challenge of their missions and operational contracts, in accordance with the military programming law. This year, it included 15 sets of cycles, vehicles and equipment for the Defense and Security Forces. This is an overview of the operational reserve, i.e. resources kept on order and ready to be deployed on short notice anywhere in the country; requiring emergency intervention. None of the land and air assets deployed on operations were called up for this parade, and they continue to maintain a security watch in their areas of engagement. In addition to escort and intervention motorcycles, 324 vehicles and machines dedicated to both high-intensity and low-intensity combat were on show, along with resources with missions as varied as mine clearance, victim rescue, electronic warfare and maintaining order.

The regiment of the presidential security which was created in 1962 and 1963 brought today’s parade to a close.

As with every anniversary celebration, the ceremony ended with a paratrooper jump and the presentation of the Ivorian flag and that of China, the guest country, to the President of the Republic.