THE PRESIDENT of the Organisation of Trade Unions of West Africa (OTUWA), Comrade Mademba Sock, is dead.
The news of Comrade Sock’s death was made public by OTUWA headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria, when Comrade John Odah, the Executive Secretary of OTUWA, announced that the Senegalese trade unionist died in Paris, the French capital Friday night.
“We have just heard the sad news of the demise of our president, Comrade Mademba Sock. This unfortunate incident happened last night in a Paris hospital where he was receiving treatment.
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“We will communicate further information as we get them from UNSAS/Family,” Odah said in a WhatsApp chat with National Record Saturday afternoon.
National Record gathered that Comrade Sock, who was the President of the Board of Directors (PCA) of the Social Security Fund and Secretary General (SG) of the UNSAS union in Senegal, had been hospitalised for some time.
Sock is said to have left an indelible mark on the trade union landscape of Senegal since the 1990s.
Born in 1951, Comrade Sock reportedly distinguished himself in the 1990s as Secretary General of the Single Union of Electricity Workers (SUTELEC), where he was at the centre of several significant conflicts, including the 1998 strike, which led to a national blackout and his imprisonment for six months.
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Despite these challenges, he continued to play a crucial role in defending workers’ rights, notably opposing the privatisation of SENELEC.
His influence quickly expanded when he also took the helm of one of Senegal’s labour centres, the National Union of Autonomous Unions of Senegal (UNSAS), the platform of which he was elected president of OTUWA.
The body of Comrade Sock will arrive in Dakar, capital of Senegal, on the evening of Wednesday, June 19, 2024.
He is scheduled to be buried on Thursday, June 20, 2024.
