At Dakar we played with metaphors: we spoke of a "pot with three legs", a "tripod", a "triangle"...as if there were no practical terms to describe the partnership between the elected representatives, citizens and technicians. Representatives from ten African countries (Senegal, Guinée Conakry, Guinée Bissau, Mauritania, Togo, Benin, Niger, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Cameroon), France, Switzerland and Venezuela participated in this meeting. For one full week, they had heated discussions and debates on what the role of each of the partners should be in the decentralisation process.

One of the highlights was the visits of inhabitants to the peripheral localities of Dakar (Pikine and Colombane) and Rufisque.

The Dakar Meeting mainly led to the creation of the African Citizens’ Network. According to Malick Wade, Chief Coordinator of the meeting, it is "a organisation with a loose structure. It was mainly constituted to promote exchanges between associative movements in Africa".

Joseph Fumtim (Cameroon)

From Istanbul to Dakar

My participation in the Dakar meeting, contrary to the one in Istanbul, involved more of presenting and listening than contributing or supporting. However, I think I managed to show a bit of our joyous and rebellious spirit to the Africans.

The meetings were held at two different places. At the Hôtel de la Voile d’Or, the participants spoke about their experiences in their communities. The presentations were peaceful, to the point and easy to evaluate. At Ngor Diarma, the citizens changed their speeches and their temperament as they were questioning the elected representatives on the electoral promises that they didn’t fulfil. Mayors, technocrats and professionals all had to face the complaints and criticism from the crowd gathered.

The situations presented were not in any way different from those of our communities. In fact, one finds the same problems at all levels: insecurity, unemployment, housing, public services, injustice, health, etc. But, as long as our partners guide us and help us in confronting our elected representatives, we may still hope for some solutions and, more importantly, our dignity becomes a reality.

Rosa de Pena (Venezuela)

A legitimate and justified search

The Dakar meeting helped me compare my concerns and thoughts, as a professional and a scientist, with those of the citizens. I was struck by the perfect coincidence between the two.

I appreciated the excellent work of the citizens in organising and representing themselves all over the world to fight for their legitimate and justified cause for a more participative democracy and concerted rural as well as urban development.

I was made to step out of the traditional pattern in way that the administration, which is neutral and republican, became a buffer, a mediator and a moderator for relations between the elected and the citizens. The method followed in Dakar showed the limitations of such an approach. In any case, this concept offers more guaranty and security with an organised framework (elected officials - citizens - professionals), a regular calendar which everyone must follow and a continuity in everyone’s commitments.

Falilou Mbacké Cissé (Senegal)
Specialist on the administration of local municipalities

Return to Top