GEF's Outlook

When Taxi and Bus Drivers go on Strike in Dakar

Two days without the public transport in Dakar, the capital of Senegal.

Senegalese transport workers decided to go on strike on Monday (2 Jan) and Tuesday (3 Jan) to protest against high fuel prices, the high cost of car insurance and harassment by the police.

Not a single yellow cab could be seen on the streets as I set out for work. No commuter buses. But, I could see many people trekking. 

Those taxi and bus drivers hoot endlessly, stop without warning, take bends without indicating, drop off passengers without stopping, overtake on the wrong strike, refuse to give way, etc but Dakar doesn't look quite the same without the rickety "Ndiaga Ndiaye" and "Car Rapide" commuter buses.

They not only ferry most of its inhabitants, especially those who flood into the city from the impoverished suburbs of Pikine and Rufisque, they give the city its local colour.

In their absence though, Dakar's roads are now under the control of personal cars. Their owners have been going about their normal business probably relieved to drive without stress for a few days. 

Now, that's the difference with what I have observed in Cameroon in similar circumstances. 

Here in Senegal, the unions (as far as I've seen) are solely concerned about their members respecting the industrial action. That's why any taxi or bus seen transporting people is stopped and the passengers asked to disembark. They have nothing to do with the personal vehicles. 

In Cameroon, when taxi drivers or any other group of transporters decides to go on strike to protest a fuel price hike or other related issue, the unions or their members feel they must attack personal cars, whose owners are not involved in their action.

Sheep Everywhere in Dakar: C'est la Tabaski!

The sheep are everywhere. Tethered near homes or in a flock at sheep markets that have sprouted here and there -even on sidewalks. They are everywhere. That's the picture of Dakar in the days leading to the Tabaski - the Muslim Feast of Sacrifice - known in North Africa as the 'Aïd El Kebir'.

Here in Senegal, as is the case in most predominantly Muslim West African countries, it is the biggest and most popular religious feast.  

"Have you bought your ram?" a former colleague asked when we met on Friday.

"You need to get a healthy ram; they are cheap around your neighbourhood at FCFA 50,000," a cab driver advised as I headed home that evening.

"But since you look like be a big man (rich man) you can even buy a ram for FCFA 300,000 or more," he teased. 

Although, in my home country Cameroon, celebrations are taking place this Sunday, here in Senegal 'D-Day' is Monday 7 November.

People who have not yet bought their sheep (ram) are frantically negotiating to purchase one this Sunday. Here are some pictures from the sheep market near where I stay. The first picture (below) shows shepherds looking after their flock. 

Photo: Cameroonian Voters in Dakar

A picture of the mood outside the Cameroon Embassy in Dakar on Sunday 9 Oct 2011. About 500 people were registered to vote here for the presidential election. It is the first time Cameroonians based abroad are allowed to vote.

At the time this picture was taken, the atmosphere was calm, the voting process was serene though there were several Senegalese policemen in and outside the Embassy premises. A few people who had already voted said they were waiting for the vote count.

Rough Thursday in Dakar...

Burnt cars, ransacked buildings, a controversial bill tabled in parliament, running battles between riot police and rock throwing protesters outside parliament building, ministers and MPs receiving threats on their phones, a government minister referring to those sending such messages as "terrorists", countless twitter messages, and finally...the government back-pedals and withdraws the controversial bill. 

All of that happened in a day (23 June 2011) in the West African nation of Senegal.

 (Picture credit: Bate Etah via yfrog)

Egypt and Tunisia on the minds of activists at Dakar Forum

Recent uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt are a sign that normal people can shape the destiny of their nations towards more justice and fairness, activists at the World Social Forum in Dakar said on Sunday.

"What Egyptians, Tunisians, Ivorians, Guineans and all the peoples of the world are saying is that we should fight for justice," said Tawfik Ben Abdallah, a member of the African Social Forum.

"We do not have to allow anyone blcakmail us or allow anyone to take our lives and destiny," he added, as thousands of anti-capitalist activist gathered at the University of Dakar.

The attendees had marched through the streets of Dakar carrying banners and placards urging governments worldwide to support the rights of children and women and to allow freedom of speech.

 

The president of Bolivia, Evo Morales was the guest of honour at the opening ceremony. He encouraged actors of social movements, including trade unions, to see how they could organise to move from unions and movements to capture political power in the way he did in Bolivia.

Egypt and Tunisia on the minds of activists at Dakar Forum

Recent uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt are a sign that normal people can shape the destiny of their nations towards more justice and fairness, activists at the World Social Forum in Dakar said on Sunday.

"What Egyptians, Tunisians, Ivorians, Guineans and all the peoples of the world are saying is that we should fight for justice," said Tawfik Ben Abdallah, a member of the African Social Forum.

"We do not have to allow anyone blcakmail us or allow anyone to take our lives and destiny," he added, as thousands of anti-capitalist activist gathered at the University of Dakar.

The attendees had marched through the streets of Dakar carrying banners and placards urging governments worldwide to support the rights of children and women and to allow freedom of speech.

 

The president of Bolivia, Evo Morales was the guest of honour at the opening ceremony. He encouraged actors of social movements, including trade unions, to see how they could organise to move from unions and movements to capture political power in the way he did in Bolivia.

World Social Forum 2011 opens in Dakar

This Sunday afternoon hundreds of social activists (essentially leftist groups) will march through some streets of the Senegalese capital, Dakar, to launch the World Social Forum (WSF).

It is the biennial gathering in which these groups proclaim and explain that there is another world order apart from capitalism and globalization, piloted (in their view) by the world leaders and business executives who meet at approximately the same time in Davos for the World Economic Forum.

Africa is playing host for the second time (Nairobi 2005 was the first) and the organizers would want the fundamental questions about the continent’s economic and social development, its security and its relations with the rest of the world to be central to the Forum’s debates.  

Incidentally, this is happening at a time when the north of the continent is boiling. A popular uprising which was sustained through the use of social networking tools toppled a more than two decades old regime in Tunisia while protesters are defying Hosni Mubarak’s 30 year old rule in Egypt.

Would the Forum provide techniques, ideas and tools to further such “revolutions” across the continent given that many of those who partake in it don’t tend to have a soft spot for leaders like Tunisia’s Ben Ali and Egypt’s Mubarak?

 

Timothy Kasolo: Journalists Need to be Trained to Blog

By George Esunge Fominyen

Timothy Kasolo is a Zambian journalist cum entrepreneur cum blogger. He was recently in Dakar to collect an award (coupled with a $2000 cheque) on behalf of lusakatimes.com. This online/citizen media  project had won the prize for the Best African Civil Society Organization’s Blog in the Waxal Blogging Africa Awards.

The ceremony included a debate on the marriage between blogging and journalism. So how do the likes of Timothy deal with this union? I stole into Timothy's time at the reception (with clicking plates and spoons in the background) for a conversation on the matter. One thing he said was that journalists need to be trained to be good bloggers but started by introducing lusakatimes.com...

Timothy Waxal Award Winner.mp3 -

Conversation With...Rosebell kagumire -Award Winning Journalist-Blogger

By George Esunge Fominyen

Rosebell Kagumire, winner of the  Waxal Award for Best English-Speaking African journalist's blog, says ordinary Africans can use blogging to change people's perception of Africa. She spoke to me after receiving her award in Dakar, Senegal on Monday, 9 March 2009.

This investigative journalist for "The Independent" news magazine in Kampala - Uganda thinks if blogging is made close to everyone in Africa it could serve as a counterweight to the depiction of Africa by international media like the CNN and the BBC as a place of suffering, despair and poverty. She supposes it might even make these media view Africa differently.

My conversation with Rosebell also delved into the difference between blogging and journalism and how she copes with both caps...

Best English Journalist Blogger - Rosabell Kagumire

Senegal Takes its Share of China's Africa-Love-Spell (2)

By George Esunge Fominyen

President Hu Jintao on 14th February 2009 visited the site on which the Chinese would be constructing a Grand National theatre for the Senegalese capital. What one cannot tell is if he was warned by local officials that the residents of that neighbourhood were not too pleased to have their stadium demolished in exchange for a theatre (listen to the voices in the video clip below).

Hu Jintao in Dakar: Not All Happy
Uploaded by esungeft

Senegal Takes its Share of China's Africa-Love-Spell (1)

By George Esunge Fominyen

The romance between China and Africa tastes really sweet for Senegal on this Valentine’s Day 2009. China is reported to have offered Senegal aid and loans worth 45.8 billion FCFA (approximately 90 million USD). Happening on (or the eve of) a day when most persons in the Western hemisphere are celebrating love, the additional Chinese promise to purchase 10 thousand tons of groundnut oil  from Senegal could be likened to a declaration of love from China. President Hu Jintao was in the West African country on the second-leg of his African tour.  What would the Chinese get in return?

Red Dakar On V-Day 2009
Uploaded by esungeft

Beachside Wrestling in Tourist Haven called Mbour

ICASA 2008: An Encounter with the Condom Project

By George Esunge Fominyen

One of the more captivating instances of the five days I spent covering the 15th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa is the moment I stumbled on this outfit wholly made of condoms. As I struggled to take out my camera to capture this work of art, I noticed there were people surrounding a lady who was involved in a kind of demonstration with gels and oils on a table that also had some condoms which people were smelling...

Just that day, one of the journalists on my team had spoken of the growing misconception in Mali that condoms were at the cause of the rising rate of HIV prevalence in the country. Could these persons clarify me on the issue? First, I took out my recorder, fitted my microphone and here is what I learnt talking to Joy Lynn Alegarbes, director of Global Operations, The Condom Project....

No Rooms in Dakar - We are Discussing AIDS in Africa

By George Esunge Fominyen

If you planned to visit the Senegalese capital this coming week and you haven't booked your hotel as yet, my advice is to cancel the trip. Everywhere is booked full as 5000 or more people are expected in the city to attend the 15th International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmissible Infections in Africa (ICASA).

Power Cuts, football Defeats and Riots in Dakar

By George Esunge Fominyen

The week of 6-12 October 2008 was tough in Dakar, the capital of the West African country of Senegal. City dwellers took to the streets on 9 October to protest against the frequent and long power outages. They were at it again on Saturday, 11 October when the national football (soccer) team was knocked out of the race to the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations and World Cup tournaments. They drew 1-1 with neighbours Gambia when they needed to win. The players were pelted with rocks, cars were burnt and some offices destroyed by disgusted youths.

Senegal crisis.mp3 - Gefs Outlook Podcast

I learnt of the first protests while on duty in Bamako, Mali. I could have lived the second riots had I not been abandoned in the Malian capital by a sorry airline called Air Senegal International. This podcast (in French) was produced as a cab driver briefed me on the week's events. Like a good number of Senegalese, he believes Saturday's violence was more than just an expression of disgust against the Teranga Lions.

Can Citizen Journalists Change the Face of Journalism in Africa?

By George Esunge Fominyen

The African blogosphere is growing each day. Citizens are using cyberspace to report about issues relevant to their lives and breaking news events. They are occupying a space which mainstream media professionals are still to take advantage of. People are increasingly depending on weblogs to satisfy their thirst for information and the need to communicate (interact).

Will this citizen journalism kill the trade as we know? Does this new breed of journalists need to be trained? Is there need to regulate their practice? Some ICT experts, communication researchers, bloggers, journalists and media managers discussed these issues at a workshop that held in Dakar in September 2008.

On the sidelines of the workshop, I discussed the matter in a conversation with Ndesanjo Macha, the sub-saharan Africa editor of Global Voices Online . Click below to listen to excerpts...  

Ramadan 2008: Would you mind fasting with us?

By George Esunge Fominyen

There is a sizeable Muslim population in Cameroon. Consequently,I have many friends who are Muslims. During the month of Ramadan and particularly on the feast which marks the end of that period, they invite me to break fast with them. This Ramadan in Dakar, I had a most interesting invitation from a couple of friends. "...Would you mind fasting with us?", they asked. What was the significance of this invitation? How did it happen?