Youths chase staff from state electricity offices, protesting power cuts

“Electricity for all or for nobody”, chanted the 1,000 young protestors in Labé, central Guinea, as they marched on the town’s state electricity office earlier this month, chased out the staff and barricaded the doors.

The youths then marched to the governor’s office and handed him the keys, appealing to him to find a solution to Labé’s electricity problem.

The demonstrators did not use violence in the 10 October protest, sources in Labé told IRIN. “We just wanted to talk to the authorities and tell them our grievances,” Balde Thierno Souleymane, 22, said. “In Labé there was electricity in this or that area or for this or that family. It was just nonsense.”

Since the protest, there has been no electricity anywhere.

Electricity problems have been the norm in Labé, like the rest of Guinea, for decades. The UN Development Programme said as of 2006 just 8 percent of Guinea’s some 9.4 million people had access to electricity.

So why the protests now?

“Today, because of the strikes [of January and February 2007] Guineans have the guts to say what they want,” Balde told IRIN at the Moromi Café, a popular Labé gathering place for youths.

Early this year Guinea saw unprecedented citizen demonstrations, as thousands of people poured into the streets denouncing poor living conditions. The protests, in which security forces cracked down on civilians, paralysed the country for weeks.

Guineans and outside observers alike say the nationwide strikes transformed Guineans, giving them a taste of the power of taking to the streets.

“Post-strike, what is irreversible is the awakening of the people’s conscience,” said Rabiatou Serah Diallo, secretary general of the National Confederation of Workers and a leader of the demonstrations. “This is not negotiable. It is irreversible. Today, the Guinean people know they must fight to claim their rights. And they know that it will not be easy.”

“Today the Guinean is going to stand up,” Balde in Labé told IRIN. “Since the strikes a lot of things that people have long kept quiet about are coming out now.”

Alpha Ousmane Sacko, a Labé tailor, said: “We’ve finally seen that we’re too far behind the times. From now on, the people must speak up, they must not remain silent.”

“Electricity is the motor here,” Sacko added. “If there is electricity the people can work at all hours they want to.”

Balde said for now, when night falls the city essentially stops moving. “Around 7pm, everyone rushes to get home. This means anyone who has a business or store in town cannot work past a certain time.”

He said no one is happy with the power being cut off, but the youths see it as a temporary situation "while a lasting solution is sought.”

According to a government statement transformers were sent to Labé and the nearby town of Mamou in 2005 to boost electricity capacity there, “but the equipment did not work in Labé.”

Youths told IRIN equipment has arrived in Labé over the years, but they accuse authorities of misusing it or selling parts.

Ramatoulaye Diallo, a mother of two in Labé, told IRIN the power cutoff is not felt by most. “It’s something we’re already used to; most of us live the problem of no electricity every day.” She added: “It’s not right that power is not available for all residents.”

Balde said, “Life is too hard here. We’re pushing so that our children and their children can live in better conditions.”

He said Labé youths were waiting for a response from authorities.

“The governor promised that he would go raise the issue in Conakry. We’re waiting now for his response to us. We’re insisting, but we know this cannot be resolved in just one day.”

One week after the Labé protests, the Minister of Energy and Water brought the issue to the weekly cabinet meeting. A communiqué from the meeting said the cabinet heard EDG’s director and would soon receive a delegation from the Labé governor’s office, “with the aim of ruling on this issue which is of great concern to the government.”

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