Senegal has announced that it would be introducing stricter driving laws following the death of more than 50 people in a road crash during the Muslim pilgrim when pilgrims were traveling to a holy Sufi site.
The accident occurred after a minibus packed with pilgrims heading to the central city of Touba collided with a bus on November 6.
On Monday Senegal’s Transport Minister Abdoulaye Daouda Diallo told the media in northwestern city Saint-Louis that enforcement of a new stricter law from 2018 will significantly help deal with such accidents.
The road crash occurred during a Muslim pilgrim week where members of a Sufi Muslim brotherhood, gather annually in Touba for a religious ritual called the Magal ceremony.
Many Senegalese belong to the Sufi Muslim brotherhood which is very influential in a West African nation that has 90 percent Muslim population.
AFP reported that the Transport minister said “There is no negotiating and no way back,” on the new stricter laws which requires long-delayed point system for drivers.
Unions had planned a strike by bus drivers and motorists against the measures on November 15 by Diallo said he has informed the unions that this planned strike would be delayed.
“Drivers of public transport vehicles should be aware that they are in charge of people, not goods for sale,” Diallo said.
Road accidents on the pilgrimage to Touba are common.
Source: Africafeeds.com
