Food distribution in Senegal to address the socioeconomic effects of Covid-19: AFRICTIVISTES calls for greater transparency in managing the crisis
On Saturday 11 April 2020, President Macky Sall received 146,000 tonnes of food at the Port of Dakar before launching emergency food aid distribution to the public. This also marked the start of the emergency food aid programme, funded with 69 billion CFA francs from the Fund for Response and Solidarity against the Effects of Coronavirus (FORCE-COVID-19). However, the procurement and transport of the food raised concerns among many Senegalese, who criticised the lack of transparency in the process.
Information circulated on social media suggesting that 6 billion CFA francs had been set aside for truck owners to transport food supplies to the country’s 552 municipalities. A collective of road transport stakeholders had offered to transport the food free of charge. To their great surprise, however, on Monday 6 April 2020 they saw a government tender allocating several billion CFA francs to transport food across Senegal.
The lack of proactive communication to clarify the details of the matter, along with the procedures used to award food distribution contracts, exposed tensions at the highest levels of government, as well as problems with governance and transparency. This conflicts with Law No. 2012-22 of 27 December 2012 establishing the Code of Transparency in Public Financial Management, which aims to ensure that public funds are managed transparently, efficiently and economically. Its founding principles include regular accountability by executive bodies and the full, regular disclosure of budgetary decisions to the public. These principles are also set out in the preamble to Senegal’s Constitution, which reaffirms the country’s commitment to transparency in the conduct and management of public affairs and to good governance.
Information reported by the media, and not yet sufficiently clarified by the Ministry responsible for Community Development, Social and Territorial Equity, concerns the cost of transporting food, the quantities purchased, purchase prices and the recipients of the contracts awarded. This is likely to cause confusion among the Senegalese public. The considerable uncertainty risks undermining confidence that food will be distributed properly and reach the poorest and most vulnerable people.
AFRICTIVISTES remains committed to promoting and defending democratic values, human rights and good governance, and cannot endorse this approach to managing the crisis. We believe that the state of emergency and its legal consequences cannot justify it.
In light of the lack of clarity surrounding the food distribution and transport contracts, AFRICTIVISTES calls for transparency and regular accountability. We call for stronger oversight, with greater involvement from civil society and social stakeholders.
AFRICTIVISTES urges President Macky Sall to establish the steering committee for the FORCE-COVID-19 Fund without delay, to ensure full transparency in the management of funds raised from the Senegalese people at considerable sacrifice. The committee should be as representative as possible, bringing together all sections of society to oversee the funds and ensure they are managed properly.
AFRICTIVISTES urges the authorities to carry out a full audit as soon as the process is complete, so that all allegations concerning the contracts signed in this matter, which have been described as opaque, can be clarified.
AFRICTIVISTES recognises the value of these aid programmes. We call on the government to ensure that transparency, inclusion, fairness and accountability are upheld, and to make sure that the food reaches those in need without any politicisation or favouritism in its distribution.
The coronavirus pandemic has continued to expose shortcomings in African states, the lack of resources in hospitals and the poor governance that has prevailed in some vital sectors. This is an opportunity for African states to address some of their management failures and adopt an ethical and political approach suited to the challenges of
