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 
 
¶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