Fuel anger prompts boos for Touadéra’s convoy in Bangui
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Corbeau News Centrafrique
Since fuel prices rose in Bangui, motorcycle taxi drivers and residents have booed official convoys, including President Faustin-Archange Touadéra’s on 7 November outside a petrol station at PK11. The head of state, the president of the National Assembly and the prime minister have faced the protests, unusual in a capital where official movements are tightly controlled, reports Corbeau News Centrafrique.
Central African President Faustin-Archange Touadéra was booed by motorcycle taxi drivers twice in Bangui, on 7 and 8 November, amid a fuel shortage. The first incident occurred on 7 November at PK11, outside a Total petrol station, where drivers were waiting to refuel, according to Corbeau News Centrafrique.
On 8 November, boos again greeted the presidential convoy at the crossroads of the fourth arrondissement, as Touadéra left his home in Boy-Rabe to go to the church of Ngoubagara, reports Corbeau News Centrafrique. Hundreds of motorcyclists have been waiting for several hours outside petrol stations to obtain a few litres of petrol.
These incidents come after the fuel price increase defended by Touadéra on 7 October and his justification of it by imports on 15 October. They also follow the total fuel shortage in Bangui reported on 1 November.
The BRDC, a platform of Central African opposition parties and organisations, has also called for a demonstration against the high cost of living in Bangui on 13 November, according to its 30 October appeal.
