Patrick Achi, the secretary-general of the presidency, speaks during the announcement of the new government at the presidential palace in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. September 4, 2019. REUTERS/Thierry Gouegnon
Ivory Coast’s Prime Minister Patrick Achi is in France for medical treatment after suffering intestinal bleeding, sources close to his office said Thursday.
Achi, 65, has been in France for three days and is set to return home on Friday, the sources told AFP, requesting anonymity.
Ivorian authorities have released no information on the trip and have not responded to requests by AFP.
Achi, a veteran government figure close to President Alassane Ouattara, is the West African country’s third prime minister in the past year after his two predecessors died.
He was confirmed in late March, replacing Hamed Bakayoko, 56, who had been flown to Germany with cancer and died two days later.
Bakayoko had taken office in July 2020 after Amadou Gon Coulibaly died aged 61 following heart problems.
The former French colony is still recovering from a violence-torn presidential election last October that claimed nearly 100 lives.