Ivory Coast candidates.

Opposition figures have reacted angrily after Ivory Coast's Constitutional Court rejected 40 candidates for upcoming presidential elections, validating the contested bid of incumbent Alassane Ouattara but sidelining his predecessor, Laurent Gbagbo. Former Prime minister Guillaume Soro, a onetime Ouattara ally who had been sentenced to 20 years in absentia over alleged embezzlement of public funds, was also barred from contesting the vote. With tensions running high ahead of the polls protests broke out in several cities, including in southeastern Bonoua, where some young people marched against Ouattara's candidacy in defiance of a ban on demonstrations. For some reaction to the Constitutional Court's ruling, Channel Africa spoke to Kone Adama, secretary general of the Rally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace party-RHDP.