IVORY COAST: Jesse Jackson follows in Michael Jackson's footsteps as a traditional Ivorian Prince

Record ID: 181210

  • Title: IVORY COAST: Jesse Jackson follows in Michael Jackson's footsteps as a traditional Ivorian Prince
  • Date: 18th August 2009
  • Summary: CHILDREN SITTING BY TREE
  • Embargoed: 2nd September 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz
  • Reuters ID: LVA8I7TRT70ZGOYME4HQ6B57U5Z5
  • Story Text: Reverend Jesse Jackson was recently honoured in a village in a south eastern Ivory Coast by being made a prince, where Michael Jackson received a similar title when he visited in the 1990s.
    King Nanan Amon N'Douffou V of the Agni, who presided over the ceremony, named Jesse Jackson Nanan Aka Essouin, after a great warrior who founded the kingdom.
    Kingdom officials helped Jackson put on the traditional clothing and jewellery for the ceremony.
    Jackson follows in the footsteps of Michael Jackson, who was made a prince of the same kingdom when he visited Ivory Coast in 1992.
    "We want the musical legacy of Michael Jackson, who was crowned king here, live on in spirit, to rest in peace," said the former U.S presidential candidate and civil rights campaigner.
    Kingdom chiefs had appealed to the U.S. embassy in Ivory Coast for the body of Michael Jackson to be brought back to be buried near the tree where he was crowned prince, as tradition dictates for any of the kingdom's princes.
    A mourning ceremony for the death of the late star was held in the village, with Komian women looking for the 'spirit' of Michael Jackson through their trance dances.
    "We were able to get his spirit (Michael Jackson's) and we buried it, and it's because of his spirit, our fetish ladies who are the komian here, were able to go into trance and they were able to communicate in the trance with the spirit of Michael Jackson. That's what happened," said Lazare Koffi Koffi, Son Of The Kingdom Of Krindjabo.
    Following the kingdom's traditions, as soon as the singer's spirit was buried, a white cloth was wrapped around the large tree on an alleyway in the village deep in the Ivorian rainforest.
    Historian Elloe Brou studied the Jacksons' ancestry.
    "Through their traditions, the Jacksons have their origins in Ivory Coast, and precisely in the Kingdom of Krindjabo, from where their ancestors were taken when they were very young by warrior soldiers from another kingdom. The oral traditional history of the Kingdom of Krindjabo talks about 20 young people and two young princesses who were sold to English traders on the Golden Coast. All this information is confirmed by several reports from the commander of the Joinville d'Assinie Fort in 1844," Brou said.
    The villagers have now launched a search for a successor to the singer who was crowned a prince - or son of the kingdom - 17 years ago.
    Jesse Jackson was invited to Ivory Coast by the Young Patriots, who are supporters of Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo.
    "I have come today on the special occasion not to endorsed a candidate. But to endorse a process, the process of Democracy, process of open, fair and free Democracy," Jackson said after meeting with Gbagbo.
    The West African country has been sharply and widely criticised by Western nations for repeatedly delaying elections.
    Ivory Coast was split by a 2002-2003 civil war. Reunification and fair elections are seen as vital for encouraging investment in a country that was a major regional economic hub until the war wrecked its reputation for stability.
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