Riots betray unease in W.Africa haven Senegal
By Nick Tattersall and Diadie Ba
DAKAR, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Shock riots which swept across Senegal's capital Dakar betray growing discontent in one of West Africa's most stable nations, where rising food prices and high unemployment are widening the gap between rich and poor.
Hundreds of stone-throwing protesters rampaged through the city on Wednesday, blocking main avenues with burning tyres and rubbish as riot police firing tear gas fought to disperse them.
Many market stalls and businesses remained shuttered on Thursday and groups of young men loitered in side streets. In the main Sandaga market police in riot gear fired tear gas as small fires burned and protesters hurled rocks, witnesses said.
The unrest, which residents said was among the worst in almost two decades, erupted after President Abdoulaye Wade's government ordered police last week to evict thousands of street vendors whose stalls line the city centre's pot-holed streets.
But wider discontent over unemployment, rising prices of rice and bread, and a perception that the government is building luxury hotels and highways while ignoring the poor, meant the trouble quickly spread.
"Enough's enough," said the red-banner headline of Le Populaire newspaper. "Dakar joins with the evicted street vendors to protest their discontent with the government."
Senegal was one of the first African countries to espouse multiparty politics in the 1970s and is one of only two nations in West Africa never to have seen a coup.
Wade, an economic liberal, swept to power in 2000 with massive support from unemployed youths hungry for change after four decades of Socialist rule, telling his supporters it was "necessary to work: work hard".
Similar promises to tackle youth unemployment were one of the cornerstones of his campaign for elections in February, in which the octogenarian leader won a second term.
But Dakar's legions of jobless young are losing patience.
"Wade pledged to help the youth if he got a second mandate," said Ibrahim Mbemgue, 28, crouched on the roof of his apartment block in a Dakar suburb late on Wednesday as clouds of tear gas and smoke from burning tyres rose from the street below.
"He has betrayed the people. This is a general protest."
WALKING THE STREETS
Dakar Governor Amadou Sy announced the creation of four new markets for the evicted street traders in a bid to defuse popular anger. But the vendors complained the sites were far from the downtown crowds of potential customers.
"We realise our wooden tables on the side of the road aren't acceptable. But walking the streets with two shirts on your arm to sell should be allowed," said street seller Mor Deme, 32.
Cheikh Diop, president of the street vendors on the main Georges Pompidou avenue, said the hawkers should stay put until after the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha, known locally as Tabaski, in December, to allow them to fund family celebrations.
But whatever the outcome of negotiations over the hawkers, the broader malaise is likely to remain.
According to the World Bank, 97 percent of new jobs created in Senegal between 1995 and 2004 were in the informal sector, meaning even the thousands of new graduates coming from Dakar's university each year struggle to find salaried work.
Thousands of young men risk their lives each year trying to reach Spain's Canary Islands in rickety boats, in the hope of finding jobs in Europe. Wade's signing of a repatriation deal with Spain last year, which saw Senegalese migrants sent home while others remained, has been another source of popular anger.
"We want to go to Europe but they won't even let us do that. Wade said the youth would work. But we see no work. Each day we get up and we can't afford bread for breakfast," said Mor Diop, 26, in the Grand Yoff district as riot police patrolled outside. (Editing by Alistair Thomson)
DAKAR, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Shock riots which swept across Senegal's capital Dakar betray growing discontent in one of West Africa's most stable nations, where rising food prices and high unemployment are widening the gap between rich and poor.
Hundreds of stone-throwing protesters rampaged through the city on Wednesday, blocking main avenues with burning tyres and rubbish as riot police firing tear gas fought to disperse them.
Many market stalls and businesses remained shuttered on Thursday and groups of young men loitered in side streets. In the main Sandaga market police in riot gear fired tear gas as small fires burned and protesters hurled rocks, witnesses said.
The unrest, which residents said was among the worst in almost two decades, erupted after President Abdoulaye Wade's government ordered police last week to evict thousands of street vendors whose stalls line the city centre's pot-holed streets.
But wider discontent over unemployment, rising prices of rice and bread, and a perception that the government is building luxury hotels and highways while ignoring the poor, meant the trouble quickly spread.
"Enough's enough," said the red-banner headline of Le Populaire newspaper. "Dakar joins with the evicted street vendors to protest their discontent with the government."
Senegal was one of the first African countries to espouse multiparty politics in the 1970s and is one of only two nations in West Africa never to have seen a coup.
Wade, an economic liberal, swept to power in 2000 with massive support from unemployed youths hungry for change after four decades of Socialist rule, telling his supporters it was "necessary to work: work hard".
Similar promises to tackle youth unemployment were one of the cornerstones of his campaign for elections in February, in which the octogenarian leader won a second term.
But Dakar's legions of jobless young are losing patience.
"Wade pledged to help the youth if he got a second mandate," said Ibrahim Mbemgue, 28, crouched on the roof of his apartment block in a Dakar suburb late on Wednesday as clouds of tear gas and smoke from burning tyres rose from the street below.
"He has betrayed the people. This is a general protest."
WALKING THE STREETS
Dakar Governor Amadou Sy announced the creation of four new markets for the evicted street traders in a bid to defuse popular anger. But the vendors complained the sites were far from the downtown crowds of potential customers.
"We realise our wooden tables on the side of the road aren't acceptable. But walking the streets with two shirts on your arm to sell should be allowed," said street seller Mor Deme, 32.
Cheikh Diop, president of the street vendors on the main Georges Pompidou avenue, said the hawkers should stay put until after the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha, known locally as Tabaski, in December, to allow them to fund family celebrations.
But whatever the outcome of negotiations over the hawkers, the broader malaise is likely to remain.
According to the World Bank, 97 percent of new jobs created in Senegal between 1995 and 2004 were in the informal sector, meaning even the thousands of new graduates coming from Dakar's university each year struggle to find salaried work.
Thousands of young men risk their lives each year trying to reach Spain's Canary Islands in rickety boats, in the hope of finding jobs in Europe. Wade's signing of a repatriation deal with Spain last year, which saw Senegalese migrants sent home while others remained, has been another source of popular anger.
"We want to go to Europe but they won't even let us do that. Wade said the youth would work. But we see no work. Each day we get up and we can't afford bread for breakfast," said Mor Diop, 26, in the Grand Yoff district as riot police patrolled outside. (Editing by Alistair Thomson)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
Obama arrives in Ghana
