In an initiative aimed at upgrading the status of municipal elected officials, municipal councilors from the department of Thiès (70 kilometers from Dakar) launched the office of the departmental section of the Collective of Municipal Councilors of Senegal (COCMS). This new structure, in the making, has set itself the main mission of defending the rights and interests of municipal elected officials across the country.
The constitutive general assembly, which took place in the deliberations room of the Thiès town hall, resulted in the appointment of Ousseynou Fall, municipal councilor at the town hall of Thiès Est, as coordinator of the Collective for the department of Thiès, reports L’Aps. According to Mr. Fall, the COCMS will act as a framework for consultation, exchange, sharing, decision-making and action.
The objectives of the Collective, as defined by Ousseynou Fall, include defending the material and moral interests of municipal councilors, strengthening their capacities and establishing partnerships with technical and financial partners.
Seizing the opportunity, the Collective addressed its concerns to President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, particularly with regard to the upgrading of the status of the municipal councilor, health care, the increase in sessional allowances and the creation of a cooperative housing for municipal councilors.
The initiative to form a collective of municipal councilors began last January at Parcelles assainies, in Dakar, in reaction to the announcement of the increase in the remuneration of mayors and their deputies. Samba Ndiaye, member of the provisional national coordination, affirmed that “this initiative was followed by a series of actions, including meetings on WhatsApp, a press conference, and a seminar in Rufisque in February. This process gave rise to an ad-hoc committee responsible for overseeing the creation of the collective on a national scale. »
Amadou Coumba Ndiaye, member of the provisional national coordination, expressed his hope that the national structure of the COCMS will be put in place by the end of July. Ousseynou Fall stressed that each municipal councilor currently costs their municipality 50,000 FCFA per year, an amount that they consider insufficient given their responsibilities. He also raised the possibility of a solidarity network between the 29,680 municipal councilors across the country to achieve their common goals.
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