▁ 2 0 0 0 , ▁had ▁to ▁fle e ▁the ▁country ▁in ▁the ▁ 1 9 8 0 s , ▁after ▁he ▁in cur red ▁the ▁i re ▁of ▁Hou ph ou ë t - Bo igny ▁by ▁found ing ▁the ▁Front ▁Pop ulaire ▁I vo iri en . ▁Hou ph ou ë t - Bo igny ▁bank ed ▁on ▁his ▁broad ▁appeal ▁to ▁the ▁population , ▁who ▁continued ▁to ▁elect ▁him . ▁He ▁was ▁critic ized ▁for ▁his ▁emphas is ▁on ▁developing ▁large - scale ▁projects . ▁ ▁Many ▁felt ▁the ▁millions ▁of ▁dollars ▁spent ▁transform ing ▁his ▁home ▁village , ▁Yam ouss ou k ro , ▁into ▁the ▁new ▁political ▁capital ▁were ▁was ted ; ▁others ▁supported ▁his ▁vision ▁to ▁develop ▁a ▁centre ▁for ▁peace , ▁education , ▁and ▁religion ▁in ▁the ▁heart ▁of ▁the ▁country . ▁In ▁the ▁early ▁ 1 9 8 0 s , ▁the ▁world ▁re cess ion ▁and ▁a ▁local ▁dr ought ▁sent ▁shock ▁waves ▁through ▁the ▁I vo i rian ▁economy . ▁Due ▁to ▁the ▁over cut ting ▁of ▁tim ber ▁and ▁col laps ing ▁sugar ▁prices , ▁the ▁country ' s ▁external ▁deb t ▁increased ▁three - fold . ▁Crime ▁rose ▁dram atically ▁in ▁Ab id jan ▁as ▁an ▁infl ux ▁of ▁vill agers ▁ex ac erb ated ▁un emp loyment ▁caused ▁by ▁the ▁re cess ion . ▁ ▁In ▁ 1 9 9 0 , ▁hundreds ▁of ▁civil ▁servants ▁went ▁on ▁strike , ▁joined ▁by ▁students ▁protest ing ▁institution al ▁cor ruption