In Sierra Leone, high cost protests turn into riot
People flee during an anti-government protest, in Freetown, Sierra Leone, August 10, 2022, in this photo obtained from social media.
via REUTERS - PICTURE OBTAINED BY REUTERS
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
At least two people were killed in the capital Freetown on Wednesday evening: two policemen, lynched by the population.
A curfew has been instituted.
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Roads cut, roadblocks erected and burnt tires.
In Freetown, the protests quickly turned into a clash between young people and the police.
Two police officers were lynched, police stations were destroyed, public buildings ransacked and buses set on fire.
At the origin of this outburst of anger, a call for a peaceful rally initiated by a group of women traders to protest against the high cost of living.
The rally was banned by the police.
At the same time, calls for demonstrations were launched on social networks to demand the resignation of President Julius Maada Bio.
For Ibrahim Tommy, from civil society, there is certainly concern about the economic situation, but that does not explain yesterday's excesses.
“
People have many grievances.
They are angry, they are worried about the economic situation, about their living conditions.
The prices of basic necessities have risen sharply in recent years, with the Covid and more recently the war in Ukraine.
But that cannot explain what we witnessed yesterday.
It's incomprehensible.
»
This violence mainly broke out in an eastern district of the capital controlled by the opposition
, as well as in several towns in the north of the country where the opposition is in the majority.
On Wednesday evening, the government also accused certain politicians of manipulating the demonstrators, and in particular the idle youth, for personal ends.
A presidential election is due within a year and President Julius Maada Bio, in power since 2018, is being criticized for not doing enough to tackle corruption and inflation.
The country is one of the poorest on the continent, with more than 40% of the population subsisting on less than two dollars a day.
ECOWAS reacted by "
firmly
" condemning this violence which "
led to loss of life
".
It also calls for respect for the law and the identification of those responsible so that they can be brought to justice.
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Sierra Leone
Economic crisis