In a attempt to clear his own and his government’s responsibility for the clearing of certain areas, the Prime Minister was confronted by a circular issued by the Minister of the Interior on May 7. In this document, Jean-Baptiste Tine asked « to initiate actions to clear the public highway occupied as a result of these activities, and to set up a framework to monitor the clearance actions undertaken, to ensure that the vacated spaces are not reoccupied ».

Is Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko unaware of the decision taken by his Minister of the Interior in a circular dated May 7, to ask the relevant authorities to proceed with decluttering? The issue was first raised by the Security Council, before being validated by a circular from the Ministry of the Interior. In this document, Jean-Baptiste Tine reported that « in several localities in the country, markets are overflowing beyond their boundaries and traffic circles are being occupied by traders, making it difficult for people and goods to move around ».

He had asked the territorial administration to take up this issue « to make market managers aware of the need, indeed the urgency, to contain commercial activities within authorized limits, to initiate actions to clear the public spaces occupied by these activities and to set up a framework to monitor the clearance actions undertaken, to ensure that the vacated spaces are not reoccupied ».

On Saturday, following the outcry over the clearing of traders in Colobane, the Prime Minister made a post on Facebook implying that these activities are being carried out without the government’s knowledge. « In recent days, the government has noted a sudden wave of displacement and de-cluttering undertaken by local authorities. In my capacity as Prime Minister, I will be going to Colobane this Sunday, June 30, 2024, at 3:30 pm, to deliver a message from the President of the Republic, before going to Anse Bernard beach to inform of a serious fact discovered as part of ongoing investigations on the coast, » he wrote. Is Ousmane Sonko trying to blame these initiatives on the local authorities? But if so, he’s forgetting that these evictions begun in Keur Massar, Parcelles Assainies and Patte d’oie, and these are local authorities managed by members of the presidential camp. Better still, in Rufisque, it was the Prefect, in a press release, who informed « those with installations and property on the public highway in and around the Marché Central, particularly in the area between the Canal de l’Ouest and the Clinique Rada up to the area around the Ahmadiya mosque, to take steps to remove them by Wednesday June 24, 2020 at the latest ».

Did the Minister of the Interior issue these instructions without informing his boss? It’s hard to believe. In announcing his trip to Colobane this Sunday, Ousmane Sonko stresses that he will be going « to Anse Bernard beach to report on a serious incident uncovered as part of ongoing investigations along the coast ». With the announcement of this information, is the PM playing the diversionary game to divert the anger of the victims of those displaced? From Rufisque to Colobane, via Keur Massar, the street vendors are rumbling. Wait and see.

By Dieynaba Kane / dkane@lequotidien.sn

  • Translation by Ndey T. SOSSEH