From Prison To Leaders: How Diomaye Faye and Ousmane Sonko Rose To Power In Senegal
To millions of Senegalese, it’s a new dawn that breathes a sense of renewed hope. After months of political tension, Senegal, a West African country with 18 million people, has a new President, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who took oath of office on April 2, 2024, becoming the youngest in the history of the country to hold the position. Shortly after he was sworn in, Faye appointed his political mentor, and ally Ousmane Sonko, as the country’s Prime Minister.
However, two weeks ago, the duo, who are now the leaders of the former French colony, were behind bars.
Senegal, since it gained independence in 1960, unlike other African nations, has enjoyed relative political stability. But tension began to mount in the country as Macky Sall neared his 12-year reign as President. Before becoming President in 2012, Sall was a prominent figure in Senegal’s politics. Between June 2007 and November 2008, Sall served as President of the National Assembly, after serving as Prime Minister of Senegal from July 2004 to June 2007. He afterwards, launched his Presidential bid against his mentor and then President of the country, Abdoulaye Wade.
However, the 62-year-old was losing grip of the country following a series of allegations from financial scandals to crackdowns on civil liberties.
Two out of the many political prisoners that Sall’s crackdown put behind bars, Faye and Sonko, are now President and Prime Minister, respectively.
From Prison To Leaders: The Political Journey of Bassirou Diomaye Faye And Ousmane Sonko
In a failed attempt to cling to power beyond April 2, 2024, Sall announced on February 3 an indefinite postponement of the Presidential election slated for February 25. While the intervention of the country’s Constitutional Council overruled the decision and ordered Sall to organise elections before the end of his tenure, an amnesty bill, approved by Parliament and passed by Sall, saw the release and pardon of those involved in crimes during the political violence that took place from 2021 to 2024.
With that pardon, Diomaye Faye and Sonko were released from prison and launched a united front campaign, crisscrossing the nation, that resulted in Faye winning the March 24 presidential election with 54 percent of the votes.
“Senegal, under my leadership, will be a country of hope, a peaceful country, with independent justice and a strengthened democracy. This is my promise, based on the oath that I have just taken before this august assembly,” Bassirou Diomaye Faye said during his inauguration speech on Tuesday, April 2, 2024.
While Faye steps into this responsibility as Senegal’s youngest President at 44 years old, he, unlike Sonko who contested in 2019, had not held any elected position or shown interest in contesting for the office of the president until November 2023.
His journey into the Presidential Palace, propelled by the influence of his political mentor, was made possible following Sonko’s denial to contest for President in the 2024 election.
Who is Ousmane Sonko?
Born on July 15, 1974, in Thiès, the third largest city in Senegal, 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, Sonko gained popularity among the young population. Riding on the popularity his anti-corruption campaign against the government has garnered him, he was elected to the National Assembly in 2017, under the platform of PASTEF, a party he founded in 2014.
Accused of Rape And Sentenced For Immoral Behavior
In 2018, Sonko launched a Presidential bid but finished third with 16 percent of the votes in the country’s 2019 Presidential election. However, attacks, allegedly aimed at defaming his character, which many believed was politically motivated, continued.
On March 3, 2021, he was arrested after a beauty salon employee accused him of rape. In July 2023, Sonko, while acquitted of charges of rape, was arrested and imprisoned for multiple charges including provoking insurrection, conspiring with “terrorist groups,” and immoral behavior towards individuals younger than 21. Shortly afterward, his party, PASTEF, was dissolved by the government.
While in prison, the 49 year old ambition of becoming Senegal’s president was dashed when the Supreme Court upheld his defamation conviction, prompting the Constitutional Council to reject his application to be a presidential candidate.
Excluded from the Presidential race, and with his party dissolved by the government, Sonko backed Faye, who was then still in detention, as an independent candidate in the election.
Diomaye Faye won the Presidential election on his 44th birthday to become Senegal’s fifth President. Two years prior, Faye, whose father, Samba Faye, was a long-time member of the Socialist Party of Senegal and claimed his son grew up with left-wing ideals, was initially a guest when PASTEF was founded but quickly ascended to become one of the most prominent figures within the party. He’s credited for being one of the ideologues and designers of Sonko’s program leading to his candidacy in the 2019 election.
After Ousmane Sonko was arrested in 2021, Faye became the party’s general secretary. Although he ran unsuccessfully to become mayor of Ndianganao, his hometown, he attempted to unite opposition under the alliance Liberate the People. Faye, a former tax inspector himself, was arrested in April 2023, after he wrote a Facebook post that accused magistrates of being in the pocket of the state.
He would be release just 10 days to the Presidential election after spending 11 months in detention.
As Faye announced Ousmane Sonko as his Prime Minister in line with the constitution, the duo faces a new challenge of steering the country away from the wrongs they have long identified when in opposition.
Despite the euphoria, the new government faces significant challenges. Senegal grapples with a 20 percent unemployment rate, soaring living costs, and the need to heal the wounds of recent political turmoil. Faye acknowledged the depth of the nation’s desire for change in his inaugural address. He pledged to build a “sovereign, just, and prosperous Senegal” while preserving national stability, a cornerstone of the country’s past success.
“Through my election, the Senegalese people are committed to the path of building a sovereign, just, and prosperous Senegal, in a progressing Africa. And in this work of building a new Senegal, I will work tirelessly to preserve peace and national cohesion. I will keep in mind that our most precious resource remains the political stability of our country,” he said.
