Following the presentation of the project, the ONAS and ASER scandals, the floods, the high cost of living and the PM’s call for contributions to finance his campaign, we gave the floor to the populations of Kolda. In this sense, they expressed their views on the current situation in the country after seven months of the new regime.
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Boubacar Diao, student, says he remains unsatisfied for the moment with the decisions of the new regime. “We remained for months without connection or scholarships. With the project presented recently, the new regime says it will base itself on education to develop the country with the training of 700,000 young people. But if they already start treating us like this, I fear for the realization of their project. » In the process, he specifies “instead of calling for contributions for his electoral campaign, Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko should look into the problems of the Senegalese. Better still, the government should enlighten us on the ONAS and ASER scandals before doing anything. In this sense, I wonder how a state in ruins could recruit mission managers while ignoring priorities such as youth employment. Moreover, he will have to do the same for the victims of the floods in the east of the country, particularly in Bakel, Kidira, Diawara among others. Currently, populations are suffering due to the high cost of basic necessities…”
A trip to the American market will allow us to meet Fatoumata S, vegetable table manager, multi-colored scarf around her neck. The latter advances: “the first months of this regime were very tough for us because we noticed a drop in customers’ purchasing power. Moreover, it is difficult to sell our products and this creates enormous losses for us. And if it continues like this, we are heading straight for bankruptcy. Besides, my husband who is in the construction industry hardly works anymore. This is a difficult situation we are currently experiencing. »
However, Aliou B, a teacher by training, in his forties, believes that patience is needed. As such, he maintains “we must be patient in giving them time to implement their project. Moreover, this government which has not even been a year old deserves to be listened to and supported. And I am confident that he will succeed in his mission and the criticism will not affect him. » In this vein, he underlines: “it is the opponents who cry scandal which, in my opinion, is only the fruit of their imagination. This is why we will respond to the PM’s call by giving our participation. »
The first half of the new regime would seem to reflect the image of the country with its numerous shortcomings. This concerns the situation of ONAS and ASER in which some incriminate dignitaries of the regime having pocketed bribes. In this vein, Amadou Diallo, a young unemployed person, deplores this situation which has arrived so soon because he had a lot of hope in this regime.
“I am disappointed with what I see and hear because I did not expect this. Today, I don’t understand the new regime at all with all the broken promises. And these are other things that are being proposed to us that are different from the project that we had defended. Besides, I feel like we’re being ignored now. And the project presentation is the icing on the cake so where is the project and solution book. It’s like a scam to me…” In the process, he specifies: “now we are being asked to contribute to the campaign while the scandals are not clarified…”