Senegal: Primary sector workers’ unions speak out and call it an illegal act

Nothing is going well between the Minister of Fisheries and the primary sector workers’ unions. The Minister, Pape Sagna Mbaye, has been on strike for weeks and has issued a circular to requisition a large number of workers. This decision was motivated by the fact that the population is beginning to worry about the quality of the meat consumed on the market because it is not certified by sworn agents. The authorities have therefore moved up a gear by requisitioning workers.

A decision that is not to the link of the trade union party that speaks of an illegal act, and impertinent and does not meet any criteria governed by their text and regulations. An obstacle to the right to strike supports Omar Dramé, secretary general of the said union, who has been talking about the minister’s trial and error since he was appointed to this position last September. The latter at a meeting had declared that he was not their lawyer and interlocutor and so they believe that this minister is starting badly because he has just declared war on us and we will respond.

Given all its shortcomings, the inter-union simply requests the dismissal or resignation of Fisheries Minister Pape Sagna Mbaye for incompetence. The trade union party also decreed a slogan for a 24-hour strike this Friday in protest.

Senegalese waters are among the richest in Africa. Communities depend on it as the main source of income. Unfortunately, they are increasingly becoming the centre of illegal activities. Illegal and unregulated fishing is one of the main threats to Senegal’s maritime sector. Its most harmful form is the intrusion of industrial vessels without authorisation into waters under national jurisdiction that cause FCFA 150 billion to be lost annually.

As part of its sustainable fisheries program, Senegal has a new Fisheries Code that has tightened penalties against offenders. This regulatory framework more involves actors in the rehabilitation of marine and coastal ecosystems as well as in the management of fisheries resources for the well-being of populations, regulations on the regulation of access to the sea, the implementation of development plans and Marine Protected Areas. However, it must be recognised that the fishing sector in Senegal sometimes finds itself in troubled waters. Some authorities are accused of corruption practises by professionals.