Anne Jacqueline Oble (born 1950), also known as Jacqueline Lohoues-Oble, is an Ivorian lawyer and politician who was the first woman to stand as a candidate in a presidential election.

Oble in 1976

Early life and education edit

Anne Jacqueline Lohoues was born in Dabou in 1950,[1] one of eleven children.[2] She has a bachelor's degree in law from the University of Abidjan-Cocody (1975),[3] a master's degree in Private Law from the University of Paris II (1977) and a PhD from Jean Moulin University (1982).[1][4]

Career edit

Oble is a lawyer and was the first law professor in sub-Saharan Africa at Abidjan Law School and served as dean of law faculty from 1986 to 1989.[3] In 1984, she met Gabonese President Omar Bongo at a conference on family law in Africa, who then introduced her to President Félix Houphouët-Boigny. In 1990, Houphouët-Boigny appointed her Minister of Justice and Keeper of the Seals under Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara.[2]

After Houphouët-Boigny's death in 1993, Oble was one of the founding members of the Rally of the Republicans with her brother Vincent Lohoues Essoh, who later became Minister of Construction and Town Planning under the transitional government of Robert Guéï.[2][3]

In 1995, Oble was elected as a member of the National Assembly for Abobo. She resigned in 1999 after opposing Ouattara's candidacy for the 2000 presidential election.[2][3] She returned to the university and then practiced as a legal advisor to Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny from 2006 to 2007.[2]

Oble served as president of African Women Ministers and Parliamentarians and a founding member of the Women Lawyers' Association. After the election of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in neighbouring Liberia in 2005, many women encouraged her to run for the presidency.[1] In 2010, she was a candidate in the presidential elections, the first woman to contest the position.[2] Although she beat six of the other 13 candidates, she only received 0.27 percent of the vote.[3] She chose to support Laurent Gbagbo in the second round of voting.[5] After his election, she was appointed as his spokesperson,[5] and then from 5 December 2010 to 11 April 2011, she served as Minister of Education in the Gilbert Aké government, which was not recognised by the international community. On 18 December 2010, she spoke on behalf of Gbagbo and called for the immediate withdrawal of UN and French troops from the country,[6] saying the UN was guilty of "serious missteps" and "contempt" for the country's institutions.[3][7] On 11 January 2011, the European Union placed Oble under sanctions as a member of the Ake N'Gbo government. After Gbagbo's arrest on 11 April 2011, bringing an end to the Second Ivorian Civil War, she was the only minister not disturbed by the new leaders.[5]

Oble returned to her work as an academic at Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny in Cocody and ruled out running in the 2015 presidential election.[5] In 2013, she was serving as member of the Scientific Council of the International Union of Judicial Officers.[8]

Publications edit

  • Lohoues-Oble, Jacqueline (1999). "L'apparition d'un droit international des affaires en Afrique". Revue internationale de droit comparé. 51 (3): 543–591. doi:10.3406/ridc.1999.18250.
  • Oblé-Lohoues, Jacqueline (1984). Le droit des successions en Côte d'Ivoire: tradition et modernisme. Nouvelles Editions africaines.
  • Assi-Esso, Anne-Marie; Issa-Sayegh, Joseph; Lohoues-Oble, Jacqueline (2002). Droit des assurances. Bruylant. ISBN 9782802716181.
  • Issa-Sayegh, Joseph; Lohoues-Oble, Jacqueline (2002). Ohada - Harmonisation du droit des affaires. Bruylant. ISBN 9782802715702.
  • Lohoues-Oble, Jacqueline (2008). "Autonomy Of The Parties : The Supplemental Character Of The Provisions Of The Ohada Preliminary Draft Uniform Act On Contract Law". Unif Law Rev. 13 (1–2): 337–338. doi:10.1093/ulr/13.1-2.337.
  • Lohoues-Oble, Jacqueline (2009). "Le Traite Ohada Et L'Acte Uniforme Relatif Aux Procedures Simplifiees De Recouvrement Et Des Voies D'Execution: Esquisse D'Un Droit International De L'Execution". Romanian Journal of Compulsory Execution. 148.

Awards and honours edit

Personal life edit

Oble is widowed and has four daughters and two granddaughters.[1][2]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d Taicher, Elèonore (10 February 2010). "Femmes africaines". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 4 March 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Présidentielle : Jacqueline Lohoues Oble, candidate au nom des femmes". Jeune Afrique. 24 October 2010. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Daddieh, Cyril K. (2016). Historical Dictionary of Cote d'Ivoire (The Ivory Coast). Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 350–351. ISBN 9780810873896.
  4. ^ a b "Biographie Jacqueline Lohoues-Oble" (in French). Abidjan.net. 2010. Archived from the original on 2019-07-08. Retrieved 2017-03-04.
  5. ^ a b c d "Côte-d'Ivoire engagement politique – Jacqueline Lohès Oble se met au " repos "". Connection Iviorenne (in French). 25 April 2015. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
  6. ^ Konan, Venance (1 March 2011). "Côte d'ivoire. Les Ivoiriens ont de quoi cauchemarder". Courrier International (in French). Retrieved 4 March 2017.
  7. ^ James (18 December 2010). "Gbagbo orders peacekeepers to leave Ivory Coast". BBC Newsfirst=John. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
  8. ^ "A member of the Scientific Council of the UIHJ becomes Minister of Justice of Tunisia". UIHJ. 8 March 2013. Archived from the original on 9 July 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2017.

External links edit