From the Open Gambia Platform
Two Gambian activists, veterans of the struggle against the dictatorship of Yakhya Diame, discuss how The Gambia and Gambians are being drawn into Macky Sall's plot against his main opponent, Ousmane Sonko. Sulayman Ben Suwareh, editor-in-chief of the Open Gambia platform and former Gambian military intelligence officer, and Juka Ceesay, civil rights activist and broadcaster, whose brother Alhajie Ceesay was murdered on Yakhya
Violence has rocked Dakar, Senegal since the sentencing of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko. CNN's Zain Asher speaks to freelance journalist Borso Tall about what she is seeing in Senegal
https://twitter.com/i/status/1665826423452450816
DAKARMATIN - Pierre Dieme 17 May 2023
Déthié Fall: "Enough is enough".
"Macky Sall is the only one responsible for the situation we are living through". This is an accusation made by Déthié Fall, one of the members of the leadership of the main opposition coalition, Yewwi Askan Wi (YAW).
"The hour is gave and extremely serious," he said in a statement made on Wednesday, May 17, after the scuffles recorded on the sidelines of the hearing before the criminal chamber of the "Sweet beauty" case opposing the leader of PASTEF, Ousmane Sonko, to the former masseuse, Adji Sarr. The clashes between the security services and protesters in Ziguinchor and Dakar have resulted in at least three (3) deaths.
Surrounded by other leaders of YAW including Khalifa Sall and Biram Soulèye Diop, the president of the Republican Party for Progress (Prp) took the opportunity to present his condolences to the grieving families of those who lost their lives in the demonstrations. He also wished a speedy recovery to the forty or so injured in the southern capital o Ziguinchor.
For Déthié Fall, "it's a real pity that we have reached this situation, in a context of Senegal, which was once envied as an island of peace" and which was once respected as "an ocean of stability" which the "President Macky Sall should preserve".
But, asserts the opposition party leader, "we tell him one thing, his plan to to remove candidates from contesting the presidential election, will not be allowed to pass. Enough is enough. We want peace but we also want our democracy to be preserved, and its renewal in 2024 to be ensured . We will not accept that he eliminates President Ousmane Sonko as a candidate from the next elections.
Déthié Fall said: "President Macky Sall was with us in 2011 (fighting against a 3rd term of the previous president Wade). He saw how the people were mobilized for him to be the beneficiary of electoral alternation in 2012. He saw what happened at the Place de l'Obélisque with all the dead (demonstrators killed by security services). We thought we would be done with that when he came to power."
He went on to warn "But today he is the one trampling on this democracy, this stability. He has a status that we recognize, that of President of the Republic, which will end in 2024. It is also up to him to respect the status of opposition leaders, that of Ousmane Sonko. Whether he likes it or not, he is a bearer of hope, of a project and deserves this respect. We say it here once again. The leadership of YAW is united, mobilised and standing up. It will confront the power and bring its support and solidarity to Ousmane Sonko. Khalifa Sall is also a victim of these practices of President Macky Sall. He served 32 months in prison. Unjustly arrested. President Macky isthe one responsible for this. Let him know that in 2024, the only person who does not have the right to participate in an election here in Senegal is him (the consitution expressly rules out a third consecutive term). All the other candidates will participate."
To finish, Déthié Falldid not fail to call on the international community. "I have already said, the hour is grave. This is the time to speak out, to remind President Macky Sall of his responsibilities, to draw his attention to the detrimental direction he has taken the country. We did not want this to happen. Since independence the opposition and the government have had to responibly cohabited in peace"
For the head of the PRP, this is no longer the case. "The government in power is multiplying the obstacles, preventing opposition leaders from playing their role"
Dié BA
Following 15th May attacks on demostrators protecting the leader of the opposition Ousmane Sonko from illegal arrest by armed security forces, at least one young demonstrator died from a live bullet fired by the Gendarmerie and scores were wounded.
In response leading international human rights lawyer, lawyer for Julian Assange, and member of Ousmane Sonko's legal team Juan Branco issued the following statement:
Any persecution against a member of a civilian population, targeted and identified for his or her ideas, as part of a systematic attack, constitutes an imprescriptible crime against humanity
"We have been given instruction to take the matter of attacks on civilians and human rights before the international Justice system for each and every breech perpetrated on the the population of Ziguinchor.
This complaint will be ledged against President Sall, Mr Diome the interior minister and against any magistrate or civil servant who has issued or obeyed manifestly illegal orders. We will track down those responsible, down to the lowest-ranking police officer.
We recall that any persecution of a member of a civilian population, targeted and identified for his or her ideas, as part of a systematic attack, constitutes an imprescriptible crime against humanity.
We will be particularly attentive to any attempts on the the physical integrity of Mr. Sonko, his relatives, and any demonstrators.
Those accused will face prosecution and held to account if they attempt to leave the country. We will make sure that no Senegalese dignitary accused of a crime can set foot in any of the 123 ICC member countries without trembling at the possible consequences for them"
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Spent live ammunition used against protesters by security forces
It should be noted that at least two demonstrators, including a 15 year old boy have died from live ammunition foired by securty forces on the 15 May, and they join at least 15 other demonstrators killed in protests by the security forces or armed pro government militians since March 2021. No enquiry was ever held into these deaths, although the US statedewpartment has talked of credible reports of extra judicial killings by securityforces and pro government actors.
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The unrest in Ziguinchor, a town in southern Senegal, came one day before the expected start of Sonko’s rape trial in the country’s capital, Dakar. Sonko was charged based on a woman’s accusations that he assaulted her when she worked at a massage salon.
If convicted, Sonko faces up to 10 years in prison and would be barred from running for president.
According to local authorities, a police armoured vehicle struck and killed the officer as it was reversing. The government offered condolences to the officer’s family, calling his death a ‘tragic accident’.
Clashes occurred near Sonko’s home, where he has been staying while vowing to defy any summons to appear in Dakar for the rape trial. Sonko challenged President Macky Sall in Senegal’s 2019 presidential election and was elected mayor of Ziguinchor last year.
Supporters gathered outside his home starting Sunday evening, fearing police would move to arrest him to bring him to court. Messages have circulated on social media calling for supporters to act as Sonko’s “shields.” and defend their leader from arrest.
Sonko recently received a 6-month suspended prison sentence in a defamation case and declared he would no longer respond to court summonses without his safety being guaranteed.
His lawyers told reporters at a news conference in Paris on Monday (May. 15) that Sonko had not yet received a summons but would appear “if conditions were met.”
Senegalese police deployed extra officers in Ziguinchor and elsewhere in Senegal.
SENEGAL CONCERN NOTE:
Ousmane Sonko had announced that he would only attend the trial if his safety from the security forces could be guaranteed. During his last two appearances in court of a different trial, he was attached by security forces, his vehicle window smashed, forcibly extracted and on one occassion sprayed with a highly toxic potentially deadly substance in what has been called an assassination attempt.
The rape accusation case itself is widely viewed as a farce aimed at excluding Sonko (who has a commanding lead in the polls) from the presidential race. The medical certificate from one of Senegal's leading gynacologists cleared him, as it revealed there had been no sexual contact, although the doctor then had attempts to bribe him to change the certificate followed by death threats and attempts on his life when he refused. The leading Gendarmerie investigator faced death threats, sacking and military detention after he revealed that an internal Police enquiry had found that the Chief prosecutor had altered witness statements and infroduced false evidence to implicate Sonko. Leaked audi tapes from the supposed victim (which she does not deny making) reveals her admitting the whole matter was an engineered plot as he had never had any relations with her. The investigating judge refused to accept evidence submitted by the accused revealing clear evidence of conspiracy against him.
It should be further noted that President Macky Sall's two previous main presidential contenders have both also found themselves excluded for running against him due to cases brought against them in the courts.
BARACK OBAMA'S SECRET MISSION TO MACKY SALL
africa-intelligence Cheikh Dieng Publication 13/05/2023
Less than a year before a crucial presidential election for Senegal, things are getting more complicated for Macky Sall, president of this country. If on the legal level, the latter can rejoice at the recent verdict sanctioning Ousmane Sonko, his main opponent, to a sentence that could invalidate his candidacy, on the diplomatic level, nothing is even less certain. And in the West, Macky's decision to run for a third term is not viewed favourably.
This is at least what the investigative media Africa Intelligence revealed on 11 May, which tells us that the former US president, Barack Obama, met secretly (by phone) with Macky Sall on this extremely scabrous subject. And the first black president of the United States passed on to his former counterpart the doubts concerning his decision to remain in power a third time. According to the same source, the phone call between Macky and Obama was coordinated through Joe Biden, the current US president.
"According to Africa Intelligence, former U.S. President Barack Obama met with the Senegalese head of state by phone to discuss the February 2024 presidential election. The exchange was held in close coordination with the Biden administration, at a time when the scenario of a third term of Macky Sall is taking shape more and more," says Africa Intelligence.
It should be noted that the call of Barack Obama comes in a very tense political context in Senegal marked by the recent conviction of the main opponent of the country to a fine of 200 million and 6 months in prison suspended. Such a sentence could possibly disqualify his candidacy for 2024, which could trigger strong tensions in the country. It should also be recalled that Barack Obama is not the only Western politician to worry about Macky Sall's third term. Indeed, on March 2, the same source (Africa Intelligence) informed us that at the Elysee Palace, the idea does not seem to please Emmanuel Macron.
"With less than a year to go before the presidential election, the prospect of Macky Sall running for a third term is increasingly worrying France and the United States. The subject was discussed directly by Emmanuel Macron with his Senegalese counterpart. At the same time, the issue is embarrassing in the capitals of ECOWAS member states," the source said.
It is with great disappointment that I write this open letter.
I note that President Macky Sall of Senegal has been invited to attend King Charles’ Coronation as a guest .
I am concerned that this will bring a reputational damage on British institutionss by being perceived as “rewarding” someone who is rapidly degrading Senegal’s democracy:
• Sall and his brother were implicated in a BBC documentary on a $10 billion oil and gas deal corruption scandal involving BP.
• The Senegalese constitution specifically rejects a third mandate by a sitting president, but the President now says it is his own “personal decision” whether to stand. Bloomberg reports that Sall is “putting the country’s stability at risk by refusing to rule out running for a third term”.
• The US State Department’s 2022 report on Senegal highlights “Significant human rights issues included credible reports of: unlawful or arbitrary killings; torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by or on behalf of the government; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest or detention; political prisoners or detainees”
• Amnesty International states; “Ahead of the 2024 presidential election, the Senegalese authorities are weakening human rights protection in the country”
• Article 19 raised concerns; “As Senegal gears up for an election, media freedom and the protection of other rights, including the right to protest, have been severely compromised…. journalists have been attacked, naturally hindering their ability to perform their duties without fear. Reports indicate violations of the right to peaceful protest, with citizens being met with excessive force and arbitrary arrests during demonstrations… political parties are facing a blatant crackdown, their supporters and members have been arrested and prosecuted across the country. These developments are extremely worrying, as they threaten the democratic process in Senegal”.
I believe that the invitation should never have been issued and that it is grossly inappropritae and embarassing to see a "wanna be" dictator using a British state occassion, in his few remaining months in office, s to try and get publicity at home to desperately prove his international respectability.
This is a gross error of British diplomacy who should as a minimum remain neutral in Senegalese political affairs
Yours Sincerely,
A concerned Senegalese resident of the UK
FROM: PUNCH (Nigeria)
By Chidi Anselm Odinkalu
Macky Sall, Senegal’s president since the beginning of April 2012, has had somewhat of a charmed life. Born in December 1961, he has lived at the cutting edge of his country’s political leadership for over a quarter of a century as city mayor, cabinet minister, prime minister, president of the National Assembly, and president. Over this period, he has been a leader in the opposition Democratic Party of Senegal (PDS), protégé and later opponent to President Abdoulaye Wade, and since 2008, founder of a party political start-up, Alliance for the Republic (APR).
To become president in 2012, he defeated the incumbent, Abdoulaye Wade, precluding him from re-election to what would have been a third term.
Now approaching the sun-set of his second term, which will end in 2024, Macky Sall wants to up-end his country’s constitution and do that for which he excoriated and ultimately defeated his predecessor and mentor – run for a third term. After months of ill-concealed dithering, he has all but confirmed his intention to run for what would be a constitutionally prohibited third term in a recent interview with French Magazine, L’Express.
Article 27 of Senegal’s 2016 Constitution could not be clearer: it prescribes the duration of a presidential term as five years and adds that “[n]o one may exercise more than two consecutive mandates.” If Macky were to finagle a tilt at the presidency for a third time, he would be in breach of this provision.
For the moment, it seems, his plan is more than merely to run again. To make that happen, he seems intent on dictating whom he will run against too. His strongest opponent is Mayor of Ziguinchor and founder of the “Yewwi askan wi” (Free the People) coalition, Ousmane Sonko, whom Macky has systematically sought to tarnish and exclude from the contest with a succession of desperately specious criminal charges, so he can designate a hapless paper-weight as his opponent.
Macky Sall is the latest of Africa’s president in search of an interminable presidency. If he succeeds, he will be at least the 15th African president to do so in eight years since 2015. It was not supposed to be this way.
Independence in many African countries arrived as somewhat of an anti-climax. In its wake, constitutional instability established itself as the preferred means of succession to power. In the 50 years from the beginning of 1955 to the end of 2004, West Africa alone reported 169 “military interventions of some type”, both successful and unsuccessful. There From 1952 to 1998, the continent recorded 85 successful coups. The cost to the continent was incalculable. Ironically, Macky Sall’s Senegal was one of the few countries on the continent that has so far not reported any.
The mutual assurance of non-interference on the back of which this toxic trend was established began to suffer re-examination following the onset of the wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone in 1989. In 1990, Nigeria led the launch of a regional peace-enforcement intervention in Liberia which altered the way in which the continent responded to internal instability. The following year, in African leaders in Kampala, Uganda, diagnosed the interminable presidency as central to the continent’s conflict and instability pathologies and agreed that “[t]here should be periodic renewal of the mandate of political leaders. At the same time, the tenure of elected leaders in various branches of government should be constitutionally limited to a given number of years.”
In the four years that followed 37 African countries altered their constitutions, with 37 of them introducing presidential term limits. At the continental level, regional institutions, including the Economic Community of African States, ECOWAS, and the Organisation of African Unity, OAU, which became the African Union in 2000, began to evolve rules for oversight over elections and constitutional instability.
What emerged by the turn of the millennium was a continental package deal, by which the leaders of the continent agreed three things. First, access to political power would be based on political legitimacy conferred through credible elections, supervised by regional institutions. Second, to guarantee political competition, presidential term limits will be limited. Third, in return for respect for these two stipulations, the continent outlawed unconstitutional changes in government or coups.
By 2014, the continent went further to make the unconstitutional change in government an international crime in Africa. Those involved in it will become liable to be tried before the African Court of Justice and Human and Peoples’ Rights. This was far reaching.
In effect, the prohibition against unconstitutional changes of government in Africa was part of an implicit bargain to install guardrails against abuse of presidential incumbency on the understanding that those who seek power had to undertake to abide by some determinate rules for access thereto. These rules were meant to ensure that they will not seek to convert incumbency into interminable rulership.
But, far from eventuating, what has happened nearly across the continent is that incumbents and their parties, aided by the willing complicity or abdication of regional institutions, have retrenched the norms on term limits and credible elections, while simultaneously entrenching the prohibition against unconstitutional changes in government into a rule for interminable presidency.
In response, coups are making a return to the continent on an “epidemic” level. Take Guinea for instance. The country had never had a peaceful transition of power in over half a century of independence before 2010, when it installed Alpha Condé as its elected president. Under the Constitution, he was allowed two terms of five years each, which were to lapse in 2020. But, rather than quit power as stipulated, President Condé, who was born in 1938, chose at 82 to organize a rigged referendum to amend the constitution, enabling him to rule until he was at least 94 years old. To ensure this, President Condé deployed the military, killing many protesters against the referendum.
Seven months later, amidst even more violent protests and more killings, Condé got himself proclaimed winner in elections for his interminable presidency boycotted by the opposition. Neither ECOWAS nor the African Union remembered that there were continental norms against interminable presidency and rigged ballots. In September 2021, the military overthrew President Condé, whereupon ECOWAS and the African Union quickly re-discovered their voices.
As President Condé was busy securing his interminable presidency in Guinea, the ruling party in Mali organized elections under cover of COVID-19, at the end of which they used the judiciary to steal seats won by the opposition. What followed was a mass uprising which ultimately led the military to sack an unpopular ruling party and take over power. Once again, the AU and ECOWAS, complicitly silent in the preceding manipulation and fabrications, suddenly perked up.
By the turn of the millennium, military rule in Africa had rightly passed its sell-by date. Yet since 2002, the African Union has recorded and acted against 14 successful coups, most of them the result of presidential abuse of power or against the designs of an interminable presidency.
Africa, the continent with the youngest demographic in the world now has the distinction of having the four longest serving elective presidencies in the world. In Gabon and Togo, the Bongo and Eyadema dynasties have been in power for 55 years each. Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang approaches his 44th year as president, while Cameroon’s Paul Biya has clocked over 40.
Across the continent, elections are in disrepute and the interminable president is back in vogue. Senegal’s Macky Sall is its latest poster boy. What happens over the next year with his effort to dismantle the constitution will be pivotal for the fate of the continent.
A lawyer and a teacher, Odinkalu can be reached at chidi.odinkalu@tufts.edu
From Worldview - RANE (Risk Assessment Network + Exchange)
April 24, 202
In Senegal, mobilization of the opposition and the outcomes of ongoing legal battles could trigger massive unrest and — in an extreme scenario — a constitutional crisis that could plunge the historically stable country into violence. More than one hundred political and civil society groups in Senegal formed a coalition on April 16 to oppose a third term for President Macky Sall. The coalition is called the F24 Movement of Vital Forces and is coordinated by Mamadou Mbodj, a long-standing member of the Senegalese opposition. Ousmane Sonko, the leading opposition candidate for the February 2024 presidential election and the subject of two ongoing criminal trials, was among those who attended the coalition's launch.
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