Forty-four-year-old Bassirou Diomaye Faye, was on Tuesday, April 2, sworn in as Senegal’s youngest president. Faye took the presidential oath at an exhibition centre in the new town of Diamniadio, near the capital, Dakar, before hundreds of officials and several African heads of state who are older than him. Commonly known as Diomaye or the honourable one in the local Serer language, he won the election with 54 percent of the vote. Diomaye emerged on the platform of the previously little-known opposition figure. He emerged from the poll on the back of a period of political turmoil and fears that the then President Macky Sall, who had already been in power for 12 years, would try to extend his mandate into a third term.
For months, the nation was on the edge as the young Faye was up against the establishment, the system, but was urged on by the majority of Senegalese. Their resolve for change was evidenced when the voters stormed polling units even hours before they were opened. Wearing flamboyant boubou robes, T-shirts, both old and young persons patiently queued waiting for the opening of the polling units and consequent start of the casting of votes.
From prison to palace
His story was that of one from the prison the palace within 20 days. Faye was in prison 20 days before his election as president. A case of delay is not denial as the election was supposed to have taken place in February but the then President Sali postponed the election accusing the constitutional judges tasked with drawing up the list of candidates of corruption. However, the constitutional council overruled Sall, ordering that the elections be organised before the end of his mandate on April 2. That singular action by Sall may have dimmed his chances of victory as well as boost the resolve of the electorate of Senegal to participate in the election. This was evident as 66 percent of the seven million eligible voters in Senegal turned up at their polling units to have their say on who becomes their next president.
Sall’s 12 years had been characterised by political turmoil aside from economic challenges. The seeming angst of the people at the Sall government grew over the attempted arrest of opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko, as the former president was accused of clamping down on political opponents rather than attend to the plight of the common people. The attempted arrest of Sonko was followed by protests against the government.
From March 2021 to February 2024, thousands of people were arrested among them Bassirou Faye, the new president. Faye, the former tax inspector had taken to Facebook to protest, writing a post in February 2023 accusing magistrates of being in the pocket of the state while overlooking actual crimes. Faye was arrested on accusation of threatening state security, by his post. That April, Faye was arrested and sent to prison, where he stayed for 11 months before being released just before last month’s election.
Sonko, a key opposition figure, known for being vocal against corruption, was, in 2023, arrested on multiple charges, including allegedly provoking insurrection conspiring with terrorist groups, endangering state security and immoral behaviour towards individuals younger than 21. Shortly after, the government banned his party.
On March 6, 18 days before the election, Sali passed an amnesty bill approved by parliament to release and pardon all those involved in crimes during the political violence that took place from 2021 to 2024. The amnesty profited Sonko and Faye who were freed less than two weeks before the election, bringing their presidential campaign to life. Faye was released on March 14, under Sall’s amnesty law.
However, Sonko was barred from running for the election because of his criminal convictions and he chose Faye to stand as presidential candidate in his place. Sonko made this decision while Faye was still in jail. Faye latched on Sonko’s popularity, especially among youths, campaigning with “Diomanye is Sonko.” Sonko had also asked his supporters to vote Faye.
Breath of fresh air
For residents of Senegal, the emergence of Diomaye Faye was a sigh of relief. Upon declaration of results, a breath of fresh air was felt on the streets of Dakar, the Senegal capital. The sense that something new had birthed was palpable; the song that a new day had come, a new era had dawned, rent the streets.
Upon declaration of the March 24 presidential election, a cashier at the American Food Store supermarket in Dakar said: “Finally, we can breathe.”
Humble beginnings
The new Senegal president came from humble beginnings. He hails from Ndiaganiao, about an hour-and-a-half drive from the country capital. The family is recognised among the villagers, and the newly elected president is a respected figure.
Faye’s grandfather fought as part of the colonial French army against Nazi Germany in World War II. But after that, he brought the fight home and took on French colonial administrators over the construction of a district high school, a battle that proved more difficult than the trenches of war because the French colonists saw educated Africans as threats to their rule.
In 2022, Faye campaigned to become the mayor of Ndiaganiao but lost. At the announcement of election results, father of the new president, Mr Samba Faye spoke about the resilience of his son to achieve what he sets out to achieve. “Overcoming adversity and failure made him (Faye) a success,” Faye’s father said.
Herculean task for a youth
Faye was sworn in Diamniadio near Dakar, the capital, having defeated main rival and ruling party coalition candidate, Amadou Ba and winning the delayed election with over 54 percent of the votes. He was inaugurated as the fifth Senegal president on Tuesday, April 2, flanked his two wives – Marie Khone and Absa.
Faye is Senegal’s fifth president since independence from France in 1960. Prior Faye’s emergence, the past three years have been scarred by political tension, repeated and often lethal confrontations between protesters supporting the charismatic opponent Ousmane Sonko and the security forces, and the shrinkage of civil liberties, with hundreds of mostly young demonstrators thrown into jail.
Holding a broom, Faye, at campaign grounds, promised “sweeping” change if elected. Having emerged on the back of high expectations, he is under pressure not to dash the hopes of thousands of Senegalese. Observers see an arduous task before Faye who has never held elected office. The people of Senegal particularly yearn for “systemic change”.
Working with his Sonko, Faye now faces the challenge of carrying out national reconciliation, while easing the cost-of-living crisis, fighting corruption and appearing as someone not subservient to Sonko.
Faye’s first appointment was to announce Ousmane Sonko as prime minister. During his inaugural speech as president, Faye pledged to strengthen the country’s democracy and establish an independent judiciary. He has also promised to restore national sovereignty over key assets such as the oil, gas and fishing sectors.
The preponderance of opinions among the people of Senegal is that the new government needs to create enough jobs in a nation where 75 percent of the 18 million population is aged under 35, and the unemployment rate is officially 20 percent.
Faye has promised systemic change of a country that faced after years of turmoil under his predecessor, Macky Sall. Giving an inkling into the radical changes that the people of Senegal look up to, President Faye, on Wednesday, announced the audit of oil, gas and mining sectors, though he assured that investors were welcome in the country.
He said: “The exploitation of our natural resources, which according to the constitution belong to the people, will receive particular attention from my government.
“I will proceed with the disclosure of the effective ownership of extractive companies (and) with an audit of the mining, oil, and gas sector.
“Investor rights will always be protected, as well as the interests of the state and the people.”
Across Africa, all eyes are on Faye. Some wonder if his inexperience in elected office won’t be his debacle in governance. Being president in a league of leaders much older than him, he has a task to prove to Africa that youths can efficiently manage power and leadership. Many also look forward to his manner of appointments, in terms of how he balances compensation and competence, especially to avert further economic crisis, deal with corruption in the country. He also has to have a proactive political machinery to fend off the rooted former ruling forces who may want to stage a comeback whether by hook or crook. Though he boasts of a humble background, it waits to be seen if his ego won’t be inflated by power, knowing that power corrupts absolutely.
and then