Protests in Dakar related to the electricity outages have largely calmed on the
morning of June 28, though demonstrations have resumed in some areas of the
city. Protests on Monday night seemed to dissipate after the government-owned
electricity company was able to restore power to many areas of the city. Power
in the downtown Plateau area was out for about 18 hours on June 27 and has
already been out for nearly 5 hours so far on June 28.
Unlike the June 23 protests meant to halt constitutional amendments, the
current round of protest activity does not appear to have a specific goal, other
than expressing popular displeasure at the state of government services and
perceived corruption. Demonstrators in the Ouakam area of Dakar noted that
even though power had been off for a day in their neighborhood, the African
Renaissance Monument—a pet project of Senegalese President Abdoulaye
Wade—still had power throughout the crisis, a fact that the protesters said
demonstrates government mismanagement in the country. Because the current
round of protests does not have a specifically defined goal, it’s difficult to
determine when the demonstrations might end.
The current round of protests is larger than the usual demonstrations that occur
in Dakar, making it difficult for police to contain the unrest, due to the number of
protesters and the geographic spread of the unrest. There were reports on June
27 that the police in some areas of Dakar were not interfering with the
protesters, despite violence and destruction that were occurring in their
presence. It’s unclear if the police were not following orders to disburse the
protesters, or if the police had been told not to intervene until further thresholds
were reached in order to avoid inciting further violence.
Since the police are overextended, the government made the decision to deploy
military forces to protect certain government buildings and the residences of
certain officials, with some reports saying that a helicopter gunship was
deployed to assist the protection efforts. There’s a visibly increased presence at
the presidential palace this morning, though the military appears to be
attempting to keep a low profile by deploying to side streets, rather than
creating a sizable show of force in front of the compound.
The overall power situation in Senegal remains grim, making it likely that the
protests will continue in the coming months. The country is now moving into
the wet season and temperatures will continue to climb through the summer,
creating increased demand for electricity. Even during the low season, Senegal
does not have the capability to produce enough energy to meet demand, but the
additional increases in demand during the peak season are expected to make the
situation worse before it gets better.