‘Big brother’ Kojo Tsikata catered for my exiled mother – Laurent Gbagbo reveals

Laurent Gbagbo has celebrated the late Kojo Tsikata

Gbagbo was in town for Tsikata's funeral

He described Tsikata as a big brother of revolutionaries

Former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo has spoken fondly about his relationship with the former intelligence chief under the Peoples National Defence Council, PNDC, the regime led by the late Jerry John Rawlings.



Read full article/> According to Gbagbo, he personally referred to Tsikata as the big brother of revolutionaries for the pivotal role that he played in that regard.

He was speaking in an exclusive interview with the Managing Editor of the Insight Newspaper and host of 'Talk Time' on Pan African TV, Kwesi Pratt Jnr on Tuesday, December 14, 2021.

Asked about his mission in Ghana, he replied: “Unfortunately I am here for a sad reason. It was the death of my dear friend and big brother Captain Kojo Tsikata. I am here in Ghana for his funeral.

“He took very good care of my mother when she was here in Ghana on exile and we have known each other for a long time. I have always called him the old brother of revolutionaries. His death leaves an empty space and I had to be here at his funeral.

"I also took the time to visit the family of the Rawlingses and visited his tomb this morning,” Gbagbo added.

He went further to eulogise Tsikata and his boss Rawlings, who he described as colleagues he ‘fought’ with: “These are people that I shared the struggle with. I wasn’t around when Rawlings died but I was back when Tsikata passed away,” he disclosed.

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Tsikata, a former Head of National Security and Foreign Affairs Minister under the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) died at the age of 85 on November 20, 2021.

A private burial was held for him on December 9, 2021, after which his mortal remains were cremated according to a report by state-owned Daily Graphic.

Rawlings on the other hand died in November 2020 due to an undisclosed illness. He was subsequently given a state burial this year, which event was attended by a number of presidents within the ECOWAS subregion.