The ‘Ubbi Deuk’ phenomenon, which occurred between Sunday 14 and Monday 15 July on a social housing programme site in the Lac Rose area, will have revealed all the evil produced by culpable misinformation and demagoguery in all sectors of public life. On issues as sensitive as housing, this country will have given birth to people who think they are free to loot, squat and occupy homes because they need shelter and can’t find any options. If we resort to reprehensible practices for everything that goes wrong in an individual’s life, there is no longer any reason for society to evolve.

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A viral WhatsApp rumour that housing would be offered to the first people to arrive, resulted in nearly 150 houses being invaded by squatters who firmly believed that the State was offering them houses. The promoters also had the misfortune to see their project caricatured as an initiative of the former First Lady, Marième Sall, so that the mayonnaise of disorder took hold and all blows were allowed against them. The site is part of the 100,000 homes programme, designed to tackle the housing issue, it didn’t take long for the State of Senegal to be seen as a good Samaritan, handing out villas free of charge with the sole requirement of one occupying them in order to become the owner. When the national gendarmerie intervened to put an end to the madness, the scene was chaotic, with houses with broken windows, walls full of the telephone numbers of the new ‘owners’, various materials and objects stolen and doors dismantled. The houses were emptied of their one-night occupants, leaving the developers with enormous damage that will have to be repaired before the houses can be delivered to their original owners.

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This situation, far-fetched as it may seem, is in many ways indicative of the gradual slide into an era of lawlessness, where individuals are able to do as they please. And with the flimsiest of motives. Everything can easily be blamed on the State, whose current leaders, through demagoguery and populism, have led a section of the population to believe that all irreverence, all insolence and all forms of nonsense are equal. All you have to do is use the argument that you are trying to resolve some kind of injustice or that you have been wronged in some way to justify attitudes that have no justification whatsoever. What kind of image are we sending out to investors and developers if we fail to protect property in this country? How can we undermine the attractiveness of our country through such irresponsible actions?

The logic of allowing outrages to flourish on the basis of fallacious arguments will end up harming those who theorised it in the long run. Invading houses that you know in your heart and soul are not your own, on the flimsy argument that the State is offering them, is as expedient as seeing jobseekers invade workplaces and to forcefully occupy positions. The delirium can be taken even further if we follow the logic of the ‘Ubbi Deuk’ phenomenon, anyone who would like a vehicle would snatch the steering wheel of a car or the handlebars of a scooter from the street and see their problem solved. If we listen to reasoning in the face of such situations, we cannot deny that our country is tipping over into a dystopia where no one is at the end of their surprises. We have not seen the last of reprehensible behaviour, dubious practices or attitudes from another age. What they will all have in common is that they are based on unfailing bad faith and a spirit of entitlement. We’re not far from an open virtual space like those in the Grand Theft Auto (Gta) video games, where users are free to squat, steal cars, attack passers-by in the street and create havoc as they please.

Report from the Lac Rose Estates: The damage done by ‘Ubbi Deuk’

It is totally understandable that people want to find a place to live and are asking their government for support in order to have a roof over their heads and shelter their loved ones. It is also the duty of the State to find the best possible options to offer facilities to every fellow citizen to realise such a dream. However, it would be regrettable to allow anarchy to flourish, which would disregard respect for property and make violence the means of expressing any grievance. We are not immune to chaos if the situation at Lac Rose, with the ‘Ubbi Deuk’ site, were to be repeated in other parts of the country. This initial situation is a serious warning, and serious action will have to be taken.

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Any populist, demagogic approach will only lead to collective disaster in a country where land is the main source of tension. Today, houses are being invaded. Perhaps tomorrow it will be foreigners who will be driven out of their homes to house locals, or their property will be plundered to provide work or food for compatriots. Xenophobic rhetoric has made its bed, and demagogy fostered in high places cannot be combated in a flash, despite all the repentance of its former promoters.

By Serigne Saliou DIAGNE / saliou.diagne@lequotidien.sn

  • Translation by Ndey T. SOSSEH