Soumaila Bakayoko (soldier)

Bakayoko was born on December 31, 1953 in Babien, Séguéla Department, in French-occupied Ivory Coast. He attended the Bingerville Preparatory Technical Military School.^[1] Bakayoko joined the Ivorian Armed Forces on September 10, 1975 and became a second lieutenant in 1979.^[2]

When the First Ivorian Civil War broke out in 2002, Bakayoko was a colonel and had been serving in the 1st Engineering Battalion of Bouaké since 1999.^[2] He defected to the rebels.^[2] In 2003, he became Chief of Staff of the Forces Nouvelles.^[3] After 2005, he was assisted by Issiaka Ouattara, another warlord.^[3] That same year, he became a brigadier general.^[2] However, Bakayoko didn't control military operations; this was done by Ouattara and Cherif Ousmane.^[4][5] Bakayoko also served as the liaison for the Forces Nouvelles in the Integrated Command Center of Philippe Mangou, the chief of staff of the Government army.^[4]

On July 7, 2011, Bakayoko was promoted to divisional general and appointed chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Ivory Coast (AFCI), succeeding Mangou.^[6] Bakayoko was responsible for integrating former members of the Forces Nouvelles and the current Armed Forces.^[4][5] He became an army corps general on August 6, 2012.^[7] Bakayoko was implicated in the Bassole-Soro wiretap affair in 2015.^[8] Following the 2017 Ivory Coast mutinies, Bakayoko was dismissed from chief of staff and replaced by Sékou Touré.^[9]

In 2018, Bakayoko was appointed as the chairman of the board of directors of the Ivorian Refining Company.^[10]