Opposition leader Ousmane Sonko greets his supporters during a rally in Ziguinchor May 24, 2023. MUHAMADOU BITTAYE / AFP
He promised, he did. After spending several weeks holed up in Ziguinchor in southern Senegal, the adversary Ousmane Sonko left his stronghold in the middle of the afternoon on Friday May 26 at the head of what he calls a “people’s convoy”. Their destination is the presidential palace in Dakar, around five hundred kilometers away.
In those first twenty-four hours, the President’s main rival, Macky Sall, managed to mobilize impressive crowds ahead of the February 2024 presidential election. Every community, every village he passed through seemed to cheer him on, thousands of supporters lined the roadsides to greet the passage of his car, draped in a Senegalese flag for the occasion.
This risky journey was marked by violence from the first hours. At the end of the day, violence erupted between militants and police in Kolda (in the south) on Friday, while the convoy was temporarily blocked by a police roadblock. The leader of the Patriots of Senegal party for Labour, Ethics and Fraternity (Pastef/Les Patriotes) is expected in Tambacounda, the largest city in eastern Senegal, in the late afternoon.
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Ousmane Sonko pledged a “final fight” to President Macky Sall on Thursday, a day after the grand hearing of the trial alleging him of repeated rapes at the hands of Adji Sarr, a former massage parlor employee. While denouncing a “political conspiracy,” he urged all Senegalese, particularly the young people who make up his base, to “take charge of their destiny” by joining this “caravan of freedom.” “Gatsa-gatsa” (an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth), he repeated, making this expression his slogan in Wolof. He has not said when he will reach Dakar, but he would like to arrive in the capital before the verdict is announced in his June 1 trial.
“The fact that he wants to walk at Dakar is not a problem (…) if he respects the laws and regulations.” “We will not allow anyone to disturb public order and the peace of the Senegalese,” said government spokesman Abdou Karim Fofana on the eve of the march on Thursday. He took the opportunity to stress that the government would respond with determination to any attempt to disrupt public order.
The risk of non-admission to the presidential election
Tensions have risen in Senegal in recent months, fueled by ongoing uncertainty over a possible third term for President Macky Sall. As June 1st approaches, residents of Dakar hold their breath, worried that new clashes could break out. In March 2021, his arrest on the way to court in this alleged rape case sparked several days of violent rioting that resulted in the deaths of fourteen people and serious looting in the country.
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