2023-08-25 13:56:45
In Labé, nothing is going well between the union of motorcycle taxi drivers and the municipal authorities. On Wednesday, August 23, a parking tax collection operation turned sour. The gendarmerie entered the dance. The clash resulted in injuries and several arrests. But the squabble is likely to continue. And how ?
The inter-union CNTG-USTG accuses the mayor of the commune of Labé, Mamadou Aliou Laly Diallo, of meddling in union affairs. El Hadj Lamine Sangaré, Secretary General of the Regional Union of Workers, reveals to The Lynx, that recently the mayor had political differences with the troublesome secretary of the motorcycle taxi union, Thierno Abdourahmane Pammel Diallo. Recently, Aliou Laly would have snubbed the latter to set up a new union responsible for collecting station taxes from biker taxis. He would also have demanded to change the flocked uniform of the acronyms (CNTG-USTG). This would go wrong with taxi-motorcycle drivers who trust their union members.
According to the union, on August 23, agents in the pay of the mayor went to the field, to drive out the representatives of the inter-union and to arrest any taxi-motorcycle driver wearing another vest than that created by the mayor. A fight then breaks out. The situation degenerates when the mayor brings in the pandores, to “restore order”. Consequences: injuries and arrests, including the troublesome secretary of the union, Thierno Doux-rat Pammel.
Reckoning ?
El Hadj Lamine Sangaré immediately informed the cabinet director of the governorate and the general secretary of the decentralized communities. He said he was “surprised by Pammel’s arrest. I arrived on the scene, I spoke with the prefectural authorities and the security services, they made me understand that the mayor had lodged a complaint against Abdourahmane and his group. They were interviewed by the Labé Research Brigade”. The trade unionist explains that the agents of the security forces grabbed hold of ten drivers and seized a dozen motorcycles. “They introduced me to three beaten and injured youngsters. I think it is a settling of scores and an abuse of power by the mayor”, Mamadou Aliou Laly Diallo. According to him, the mayor wants to silence the CNTG in Labé. “It was reported to me that Diouldé Domby, municipal councilor, threatened any taxi driver who did not wear the municipal vest. But it is out of the question for a ”disguised” union to demand parking taxes from us,” complains El Hadj Sangaré.
“False accusations”
Joined by Lynx, the mayor of Labé rejects the union’s accusations as a whole, describing them as “false”. He indicates that the municipality does not have the vocation to create a union or to sell a vest and accuses the union members of being at the base of this “imbroglio”. “They demanded that the bikers buy a vest at 100,000 GNF. The latter have massively mobilized to complain to the town hall, saying they are stuck between two fires, because they have to pay parking taxes at 15,000 GNF per month”. Aliou Laly explains that initially, the municipality signed a recovery contract with the union. The latter would have violated the terms of the said contract after two months, which forced the City Council to terminate it. “We decided to create a database and payment counters. We invited taxi-motorcycle drivers to enlist, to know roughly the number of drivers in our city. The mayor added that the union attacked the town hall because of this initiative, arguing that it is not its responsibility to enlist anyone. It took the intervention of the Govt to calm the heat. “He made them understand that the Commune is free to sign a contract or hire whoever it wants”.
Complaint
The mayor continues to charge the union indicating that each time he sends a team on the ground, it is harassed by unionists who seek to thwart his plans. “They tore up mission orders signed by the mayor, vests and payment tickets. This is the third time they attack us publicly. This time there were injuries. We had registered more than 700 drivers when the general secretary came to attack our teams; they fought, the Gendarmerie intervened. He (Thierno Abdourahmane Pammel Diallo Editor’s note) was arrested in flagrante delicto”. Aliou Laly says he has forgiven a lot, but “enough is enough”. He says he is obliged to file a complaint “to enforce the law. They did the overlay for five years, but so far it hadn’t screamed. Now that the municipality wants to recover its rights, they create all the difficulties in the world. We want justice to be done”, pleads the mayor of Labé.
The case is spun to the Gendarmerie, for investigations. As if to say the squabble is brewing between the union of taxi-bikers and the municipal authorities of Labé.
Abdoulaye Pellel Bah
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