The candidate for Côte d’Ivoire’s October 25, 2025 presidential election, Henriette Lagou, representing the Group of Political Partners for Peace (GP-Paix), has announced her intention to “deepen decentralization” if elected, according to information obtained from her official campaign website by the Ivorian News Agency (AIP) on Saturday, October 11, 2025.

“Deepening decentralization to strengthen the learning of democracy at the local level and ensure greater participation of citizens in the development process,” reads her campaign platform.

According to Lagou, “the establishment of truly decentralized local governments will form the core of the development model,” which will be based on “structuring the national space and promoting proximity-based development.”

As part of this approach, Henriette Lagou proposes the construction of a health center in every village, a hospital in each department, expanded access to education, and a local governance system founded on equity and transparency.

This program comes in a broader institutional context marked by the Ivorian government’s ongoing efforts to transfer more powers to local authorities.

On June 25, 2025, the President of the Senate’s Commission for the Evaluation of Public Policies (CEPP) called for the swift adoption of implementing decrees related to the law on the transfer of competencies. This evaluation, conducted in partnership with the government, the Union of Cities and Municipalities of Côte d’Ivoire (UVICOCI), and the Assembly of Regions and Districts of Côte d’Ivoire (ARDCI), aimed to accelerate the decentralization process.

Previously, in June 2022, the Minister of the Interior and Security, General Vagondo Diomandé, discussed reforms related to the financing of local governments amid a public debt estimated at 49.941 billion CFA francs at the end of the 2021 fiscal year.

A native of Daoukro, in the Iffou region (east-central Côte d’Ivoire), Henriette Lagou graduated from the Higher School of Social Security in Côte d’Ivoire and France, as well as from the National School of Administration (ENA), Treasury Department. A descendant of Daoukro’s royal lineage, she founded in 2005 the International Relief Association (ASI), dedicated to supporting vulnerable populations.

Politically, she has served as Minister of Family, Women and Children in 2000, then as Minister of Social Affairs and People with Disabilities in 2002. In 2006, she was appointed Chair of the Board of Directors of Société Nouvelle Air Ivoire.