Hundreds of Central Africans protest fuel price hike
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Punch
Hundreds of people demonstrated in Bangui against rising fuel prices, which are also driving up transport and food costs. The mobilisation also called for the release of organisers arrested during a previous protest, according to Punch.
Hundreds of people demonstrated in Bangui on Friday against rising fuel prices and called for the release of five organisers arrested after a previous mobilisation. The protest brought together motorcycle-taxi drivers, vendors, residents, civil society members and the BRDC, an opposition coalition that had called for it, according to AFP.
The five organisers arrested after the 12 October ghost-town day remain detained, according to AFP. The BRDC, which had called for the mobilisation, also says fuel prices have risen three times in one year, while the monthly minimum wage remains set at 35,000 CFA francs.
The price increase, decided by the Central African government, has led to higher transport and food costs, amid shortages linked to security and logistical difficulties, according to AFP. The protest, initially declared illegal by the government, was eventually authorised and supervised by police and armoured vehicles from the UN peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic.
The mobilisation followed the BRDC’s call for a protest against the high cost of living in Bangui on 13 November, issued on 30 October, and the increase in fuel prices in the Central African Republic, announced on 18 October.
