Power cuts trigger street anger in Senegal

DAKAR, Sept 3

Mobs of angry youths took to the streets in Senegal's capital Dakar overnight to protest at power cuts in the mostly-Muslim country during the Ramadan fasting period, residents said on Thursday.

A courthouse in the Pikine suburb was ransacked late on Wednesday while protesters raised barricades made of rubbish and burning tyres at various points around the sprawling coastal city in the third night of trouble.

"We are Muslims. We fast all day and at sunset we should be able to eat normally again. But we even don't find cold water to drink in our fridges because of the lack of power," said Ousmane Diallo, 22.

Senegal is one of the most stable democracies in volatile West Africa but faces regular power cuts during the steamy rainy season when households and businesses run air-conditioning.

State power company Senelec is running short of the cash needed to buy the fuel to run its power units, said a company official who declined to be named.

Local papers said a small group of Senegalese protesters staged a demonstration in Paris on Tuesday to urge President Abdoulayee Wade to cut short his European holidays and come back to deal with the power cuts.

 

 

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