Violent verbal altercation between Alain Orounla and a vendor in Cotonou. The confrontation caught the attention of onlookers during a public space clearing operation personally led by the Littoral Prefect.
Clearly frustrated and angry, a vendor affected by the eviction operation did not mince her words in front of the prefectural authority. “Everything you said is fine,” the woman exclaimed. In response, the prefect’s reply was instantaneous. “Be respectful. I wasn’t obligated to stop and listen to you. But you’re wrong to react like this,” he retorted in the video recorded by E-Télé.
Alain Orounla hadn’t even finished his sentence when the vendor came back for more. “(…) because I’m fed up,” she declared, her face tense and filled with anger.
Of course, the prefect didn’t back down. He returned to the argument to balance the debate. “Aren’t we fed up too? Do you think my life is to be behind you because you are disorderly? Do you want to continue urinating in the streets? Cooking in the streets? And you say you’re suffering. That’s all you have on your mind. Get your affairs in order, and you won’t suffer anymore,” he said.
“This is not a recent struggle” After the verbal altercation, Alain Orounla calmly spoke to the press. He recalled that the operation to clear public spaces is not “a recent struggle.” “It’s the stubbornness of the rebels that keeps us constantly in the field, when we could be busy with other tasks. We will be as tenacious as the rebels until we achieve zero tolerance for illegal occupation of sidewalks,” said the prefect.
