Ivorian public opinion is outraged following the revelation of a recruitment drive for 400 customs officers in 2024, organized in complete secrecy. While a belated press release on September 24th attempts to justify an "internal regularization," the matter raises major legal and ethical questions.

An Administrative Short Circuit: In April 2024, Minister of State Anne Désirée Ouloto officially announced the suspension of this competitive examination due to a lack of expressed needs. However, the examination proceeded without any formal administrative act lifting the suspension. In administrative law, the principle of parallelism of form requires that a public decision to suspend a procedure can only be overturned by an official act of the same nature. The lack of transparency on this point renders the procedure arbitrary.

The Enigma of the 18-Year-Old Candidate: The argument of "regularizing contract workers" runs up against a troubling fact: the presence on the list of an admitted candidate aged 18. How could this individual have accumulated contract work experience within the Ministry of the Budget while having been a minor only a short time before? This inconsistency raises concerns about serious irregularities in the selection process.

The system in question: Immunity and impunity? Beyond the procedure, it is the architecture of power that is being called into question. Anne Désirée Ouloto's dual role (Minister of State and Member of Parliament) creates a democratic barrier: protected by her parliamentary immunity, her criminal liability is virtually unassailable.

Meanwhile, critical voices like that of Jean-François Kouassi are being prosecuted for denouncing these practices. This is a worrying sign for democracy: citizen voices are being suppressed more quickly than administrative opacity is being addressed.