Ivory Coast Judge Ehounou Manlan was continuing his search to find more ways to fight corruption and governmental abuse in his second trip to the United States when he toured Colonie’s Public Safety Building on Thursday, Sept. 1.
Manlan met with Town of Colonie Town Justice Andrew Sommers as they discussed how things are run in the Colonie Town Court and how the judicial system works in Ivory Coast. Manlan’s first trip to the U.S. was in 2006 where he looked to learn more about governmental transparency and saw how the judicial system worked on both the federal and local level. This trip was meant to further his knowledge.
“There are abuses by authorities, but the underlying factor is the lack of education and knowledge on the part of people,” Manlan said, “especially in rural areas and with women. So we look to inform, educate, train and assist them.”
In 2006, he visited Washington D.C., Chicago, Portland, Oregon, and Houston, Texas. The first time he came over was with 4,500 other overseas future leaders as a part of the International Visitors Leadership Program headed by the United States Department of State. It’s a cultural exchange of citizen diplomats, and Manlan is in the U.S. as a representative of a French-speaking country in Africa. This year, the Department of State invited back 20 alumni from 2006 as “gold star” members who will to put to use what they had learned in the U.S. back in their native land.
Malan came from Chicago to Colonie where he sat through a small claims case, met with Supervisor Paula Mahan and even went to Cohoes and met with Mayor John McDonald.
Manlan is a judge presiding over real property cases in his country, but he appears more passionate about his work as the president of a non-governmental organization called Transparency Justice. The group fights against corruption and for educating citizens of their rights, which is what he is most interested in learning about in the U.S.
“There are abuses by authorities, but the underlying factor is the lack of education and knowledge on the part of people,” Manlan said, “especially in rural areas and with women. So we look to inform, educate, train and assist them.”
People appear to be much more aware of what their rights are in the U.S., Manlan said, but it is because of particular structures that are put in place in the government that protect citizens from any abuse.
Manlan was able to sit in on court proceedings on Thursday and witnessed a small claims case go through. What impressed him was the judge allowing the plaintiff and the defendant to try and resolve a complaint amicably before it ever went to trial.
“That’s something that doesn’t exist,” he said about his country
Manlan met with Bob Tengeler, chairman of the Colonie Ethics Board, where he discovered yet another structure in local government meant to protect citizens from government corruption and abuse.
“What’s critical is we need to have mechanisms and structures in place if you’re going to have an open and transparent government,” he said.
Sommers said he was impressed by the passion displayed by Manlan for his mission to try and fight corruption and provide education to his country’s citizens. He said he spoke with Manlan quite a bit about domestic abuse in the Ivory Coast and how some women do not know to go to the authorities when abuse has occurred.
“What he was telling us is there is a great push towards education in letting women know they should be treated equally and if something is happening they should talk to authorities about it,” Sommers said. “I think they are way behind the United States on that.”
There were some similarities and differences between the American judicial system and the Ivory Coast’s, Sommers said, and it was a great learning experience for him. For example, he learned there is only a jury selected for a murder trial and that three judges preside over a case. When deliberations take place, all of the judges and members of the jury discuss the case and come to a majority vote on a ruling, which he said is nice because nothing ever comes to a tie. He also said there is no appeals process in the Ivory Coast.
Every day he learns something new, Sommers said, just by even sitting on the bench and presiding over different cases. With Manlan, he said it was a more extensive education in what goes on in a different country. He said after this trip that he would love to see another delegation come through.
“It was more educational,” Sommers said of the meeting. “We learned from him and he learned from us. You know about the legal system in other countries but I don’t think any of us know about how the justice system in Ivory Coast works.”
It is a tough fight for Manlan. He is constantly proposing new ideas and lobbying for more transparency and more mechanisms that would protect the public from abuse. It’s all been a large fight to have a democracy similar to the United States. As a judge, Manlan said he can only ensure his integrity, but as an activist he can fight corruption.
He did have one message for the residents of Colonie, or really anyone in the United States:
“Know how to fish rather than ask for fish,” he said. “People will only come to help us if we show we have the capacity to help ourselves. If there are people among your audience that would like to help, we welcome it because we have the desire to help ourselves.”
