Major Ivorian journalist, Mamadou Ben Soumahoro, gave up the ghost on April 11, 2016 in Accra, Ghana. The 74-year old did not recover from a stroke he had some time ago.

The man’s professionalism was renowned even amongst his opponents and critics. In the 1980s, he was director general of state-owned channel Radiodiffusion Television Ivoirienne (RTI).

Mamadou Ben Soumahoro was also engaged in politics and had even been elected deputy. He belonged to the Houphoué family given his status as a PDCI militant, then Cote d’Ivoire’s only party. He later was the spokesperson of Alassane Dramane Ouattara, the actual president, from 1995 to 1997 in the RDR party. However, he joined Laurent Gbagbo’s camp and became an opponent of France and Ouattara who became president at the end of the 2011 post-electoral crisis.

Mamadou Ben Soumahoro exiled himself in Accra. As a journalist, he was, for decades, “a model of professionalism, strictness, and truth-seeking,” wrote Alain Toussaint, who was formerly in charge of the Gbagbo couple’s communication. However, one of his opponents described Ben Soumahoro as “a big mouth, known for his proof-less flashy announcements”. Yet, all called him “Waraba”, meaning Lion in Malinké.