Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09COTONOU237
2009-06-05 08:10:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Cotonou
Cable title:  

BENIN: OPPOSITION AND HEALTH UNIONISTS LEAD PROTEST MARCH

Tags:  PGOV PREL BN 
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VZCZCXRO2711
PP RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHCO #0237 1560810
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 050810Z JUN 09 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY COTONOU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0956
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1455
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0443
UNCLAS COTONOU 000237 

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/W ACOOK
LONDON FOR PETER LORD
PARIS FOR BKANEDA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL BN
SUBJECT: BENIN: OPPOSITION AND HEALTH UNIONISTS LEAD PROTEST MARCH
AGAINST HEALTH POLICY

REFERENCE: A) COTONOU 200; B) COTONOU 222

UNCLAS COTONOU 000237

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/W ACOOK
LONDON FOR PETER LORD
PARIS FOR BKANEDA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL BN
SUBJECT: BENIN: OPPOSITION AND HEALTH UNIONISTS LEAD PROTEST MARCH
AGAINST HEALTH POLICY

REFERENCE: A) COTONOU 200; B) COTONOU 222


1. SUMMARY: On May 28, health unionists and members of the G13, G4
and Force Key opposition groups in Cotonou led a protest march
against the government's failure to satisfy health workers' claims,
including the payment of incentive bonuses. While protesters blamed
the government for showing a lack of concern regarding their
demands, the Minister of Health reiterated the government's
commitment to improving their condition. President Yayi's supporters
have viewed the unexpected participation of the contentious
opposition in the protest as a political maneuver to hijack
unionists and to blemish the president's popularity ahead of the
2011 presidential elections. As a result of this, the newly created
pro-Yayi Union for Presidential Plural Majority (UMPP) has embarked
on a counteroffensive (Ref B). END SUMMARY.


2. On May 28, contentious opposition leaders Adrien Houngbedji,
President of the Party of Democratic Renewal (PRD),Bruno Amoussou,
President of the Social-Democracy Party (PSD),Sefou Fagbohoun,
President of the African Movement for Democracy and Progress
(MADEP),Issifou Saley, the leader of the G13 and Lazare Sehoueto,
President of the Force Key Party, took the lead in a protest march
against President Yayi's health policy that gathered an estimated
15,000 people, including health unionists, workers, politicians and
supporters. Protesters chanted hostile slogans against Yayi's policy
all along the way to the Ministry of Health. At the Ministry of
Health, Benjamin Agon, the Spokesman for the protestors and Adrien
Houngbedji, the PRD leader, respectively, issued a statement before
the Minister of Health, Issa Takpara and his close collaborators.
Mr. Agon cited the problems that the health sector faced and accused
the government of disregarding health workers' demands. He urged the
government to be considerate of workers' concerns rather than
engaging in early electoral campaigning. Agon finally asked the
government to engage frank and open negotiations with workers in
order to find lasting solutions to their problems. Houngbedji read a
vitriolic statement criticizing Yayi's health policy and pointing to
his failure to revitalize the health sector and to honor his
commitments to workers.


3. Minister Takpara agreed with health workers' demands and assured
protesters that the government was gradually handling their
requests. He said that though the government had started payment of
incentive bonuses on May 26, workers decided to march on May 28.
Houngbedji argued that the government's hasty decision to pay
incentive bonuses from May 26 was an attempt to nip the march in the
bud. On June 2, Health workers started a three-day strike with no
minimum service.


4. The health sector has been experiencing slowdown strikes that
have paralyzed the sector, causing death among patients due to lack
of adequate health care. Workers' claims include payment of various
allowances, provision of modern health equipment, and recruitment of
contract workers by the civil service. However, reliable sources
from the Ministry of Health have indicated that Yayi's government
has invested billions CFA in an effort to tackle the problems.


5. In response to the May 28 march, Candide Azannai, the Spokesman
of the UMPP accused the opposition of manipulating and hijacking
unionists for the sole purpose of discrediting Yayi's government. On
May 30, Helene Aholou Keke, a Deputy of pro-Yayi FCBE, condemned, on
television, the perceived politicization of labor unions by the
opposition. She invited unionists to continue talks with the
government and to distance themselves from political activists. In
addition to this, the UMPP has announced that they will soon engage
in nationwide outreach efforts to enlighten local communities.





6. COMMENT: The test of strength between Yayi's government and the
contentious opposition persists through the May 28 march and the
UMPP's subsequent response to it. Both the government and the
opposition are likely putting in place the ingredients for social
unrest ahead of the 2011 Presidential Election. END COMMENT.

RAWLINGS