#FreeSenegal: Who is Ousmane Sonko and why’s his sentencing sparking unrest in Senegal?
The hashtag #FreeSenegal has been trending on social media since Senegal’s opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko, who is also the presidential candidate of the PASTEF party, was handed a two-year jail term for ‘immoral behaviour’.
Senegal, a West African country with a population of 17 million people, is bordered by Mauritania to the north, Mali to the east, Guinea to the southeast, and Guinea-Bissau to the southwest. It has been faced with political unrest and instability for over two years.
Sonko’s sentencing on Thursday, June 1, 2023, if not reversed, is expected to prevent the 48-year-old from participating in the upcoming presidential election scheduled to hold on February 25, 2024.
Who is Ousmane Sonko?
Ousmane Sonko’s journey into the politics of Senegal follows a pattern common in Africa, where an activist, after garnering support, particularly among the youth, launches a political movement to disrupt the long-existing political status quo.
Dismissed from his position as the country’s tax inspector in 2016 after exposing alleged corrupt practices linked to some Senegalese elites, such as a $50 million mineral sands processing plant, and how SNC Lavalin-Mauritius Ltd, a Canadian company, used a shell to avoid paying an estimated $8.9 million in taxes, Sonko gained popularity among the young population, and riding on the popularity, he was elected to the National Assembly in 2017.
As a politician, Sonko’s activism continued, and he authored “Pétrole et gaz au Sénégal,” published in 2017, a book that chronicles the Petro-Tim affair scandals. His second book titled “Solutions” was published a year later, in 2018.
Allegation of Rape: Why he was sentenced
After Sonko contested in the 2019 presidential election but finished third in the race with 16% of the votes, alleged attacks aimed at defaming his character continued. On March 3, 2021, he was arrested after a beauty salon employee accused him of rape the previous month. While he was released on bail in April 2021, his influence appears to have grown, and he is believed to enjoy support, especially among the 4.8% of unemployed youths.
On June 1, 2023, While Sonko was acquitted of charges of raping a woman, he was sentenced to two years over a criminal offence described in the penal code as immoral behaviour towards individuals younger than 21. Justice Minister Ismaila Madior Fall who ruled over the case said Sonko can be arrested “at any time”
While Sonko was not in court at the time of sentencing, the Senegalese government, led by President Macky Sall, imposed restrictions on social media in an attempt, many believe, to quell the backlash that could result from the court verdict. Interior Minister Antoine Félix Diome claimed that the restrictions were to stop the “dissemination of hate and subversive messages.” However, it is believed that Senegalese are using virtual private networks (VPNs) to circumvent the ban, similar to the backdoor Nigerians used when the government of former President Muhammadu Buhari banned the use of Twitter in the country in 2021.
Neusroom’s examination of various tweets written in French showed gory images of dead or badly wounded people. Local news outlets report that at least nine people have died following the protest, which has resulted in physical confrontation between the citizens against security agencies.
Once considered one of Africa’s politically stable nations, Senegal has joined a growing list of African countries plagued by political instability, from Mali to Sudan, Burkina Faso, and Somalia.
President Tinubu, while he is yet to issue a statement on the unrest in Senegal, promised during his inaugural speech on May 29, 2023, to bring peace and stability to West African countries and other African nations.
“The crisis in Sudan and the turn from democracy by several nations in our immediate neighborhood are of pressing concern. As such, my primary foreign policy objective must be the peace and stability of the West African sub-region and the African continent. We shall work with ECOWAS, the AU, and willing partners in the international community to end existing conflicts and resolve new ones,” he said.
