The daughter of former Ivorian President, Marie-Patrice Gbagbo has revealed that her father, Laurent Gbagbo, had great love for humanity.

According to her, her father had that passion which always compelled him to fight in the best interest of his people.

"Dad came from a very poor background, and what he wanted was for all Ivorians to have that platform where they can all thrive. So he was fighting for strong institutions for the constitution to be upheld.

"He said one day that what he wants is for people to acknowledge that when the Blackman passes, a man has passed," she said.

The comment comes a day after the International Criminal Court (ICC) upheld the acquittal of Mr Gbagbo on charges of crimes against humanity.

The former Ivory Coast leader was arrested and subsequently charged following his refusal to step down after he lost an election.

He had been charged in connection with violence following the disputed election in 2010 that left 3,000 people dead.

Speaking on Joy FM's Super Morning Show Friday, years after the incident, Marie-Patrice Gbagbo revealed that his father's arrest and all the charges levelled against him came to his family as a shock.

She told host Benjamin Akakpo that it took a while for the family to come to terms with the arrest since her father had always loved peace.

"Gbagbo Laurent is a man of peace, he has a vision for Africa which even transcends that of Cote d'Ivoire. He said one day that what he wants is for people to acknowledge that when the Blackman passes, a man has passed. We are not lesser than anybody else."

"Obviously when you undertake fights like this, you're going to be confronted to opposition but its part of the journey. He was man who wanted to reconcile people and because of that he went around the world trying to defend the position of Cote d'Ivoire."

Marie further revealed that some members of her family came to Ghana to seek refuge after his father's arrest.

“We’ve been here working, taking the kids to school, coming back, going to church...Just doing our own thing.”

“Like I said, drawing lessons. Lots of lessons. It’s been challenging. But we survived. We survived it. We grew stronger. We are happy. It couldn’t break us.”