Once known for its strong democratic traditions and rule of law, Senegal has fallen into rampant dictatorship under President Macky Sall.  Since 2012, the year Mr. Sall was elected president, beating incombent President Me Abdoulaye Wade in a runoff election, democratic institutions are undermined, activists and journalists are thrown to jail for voicing the slightest criticism on how the country is being governed, and opposition leaders and members of their political parties and sympathizers are imprisoned for just expressing their constitutional rights. 

Candidates to the 2019 presidential election, Karim Wade, son of Mr. Sall’s predecessor and Khalifa Sall, former mayor of the capital Dakar, were excluded from the race using the judiciary system. A special court, the Repression of Illicit Enrichment Court (CREI) was used for the former and a governmental audit unit’s (IGE) report (kept secret) was used as a basis to condemn the latter. During the same period, there were financial scandals involving members of President Sall’s own cabinet, his political party (APR) and his political coalition (BBY) with no legal action taken against them. On the contrary, some of them even got promotions.

Mr. Ousmane Sonko, president of the political party Pastef-Les Patriotes, came third at the 2019 presidential election. He is considered as the principal challenger to ruling coalition for the upcoming 2024 election that President Sall cannot participate in according to the Senegalese Constitution. Indeed, constitutional amendments made in 2016 consolidated a two terms limit already instituted in the 2001 Constitution. Art. 27 of the new Constitution states in no equivocal terms that “No one shall exercise more than two consecutive terms”. Mr Sall has defended this amendement both in Senegal and abroad, saying that he locked the term limit to two and this applies to him. Today, President Sall is not only trying to impose a third term, but he is also trying to sideline his Mr .Sonko using the judiciary system. 

In February 2021, Mr. Ousmane Sonko was accused of rape by a beauty salon employee. The medical report issued by a well-respected gynecologist clearly indicates that there is no evidence, physical or otherwise, to validate the claim. The accuser could not produce a shred of evidence during the hearings. The physician and witnesses who denied the rape allegations were offered bribes (which they rejected) before being regularly harassed with death threats. There are also publicly available authentic audio recordings where the accuser could be heard conversing with government members and supporters, clearly demonstrating that this is a plot aimed at isolating a political opponent.  The arrest of Mr. Ousmane Sonko in March 2021 triggered several days of intense political protests that spiraled into widespread riots and looting, causing 13 deaths, more than 600 injuries, and millions of dollars in property damage. According to the State Department’s 2021 Human Rights Report, there were unlawful or arbitrary killings including extrajudicial killings by or on behalf of the government. The Senegalese government promised to thoroughly investigate these events and killings but to date, not a single investigation has been conducted to find those responsible. Mr. Sonko was released after five days in detention with judicial supervision (he is not allowed to leave the country). In January 2023, the investigative judge, with all the above mentioned elements (clearing Mr. Sonko of the rape allegations) decided to move forward the case for trial. While the trial date was pending, other cases were brought against Mr Sonko. They include a defamation lawsuit by a minister from Macky Sall’s government. The minister was cited in a government report for embezzling 29 billion CFA Francs (48 million U.S. Dollars) of taxpayer money. He does not deny the accusations but nonetheless, he is suing Mr. Sonko for misspelling the name of the governmental watchdog that caught him. On his way home from a court hearing on February 16, Mr. Sonko’s convoy was stopped by security forces and was ordered to use a tunnel infested with heavily armed thugs deployed by the regime. On his refusal, the police smashed the car’s window and forcibly removed him before embarking him in a police car without an arrest warrant.  This latest affront to democracy was relayed in the international media, including the Washington Post and other mainstream outlets. 

Mr. Sall’s and his camp’s goal is clear. They are trying to sideline their main opponent (Ousmane Sonko) to the 2024 presidential race. Their main strategy is to use the judiciary system, which has serious independence problems; but one should not exclude attempts to physically eliminate Mr. Sonko. Calls to assassinate Ousmane Sonko have been made by some (high ranking in some cases) members of Mr. Sall’s political party. The situation today in Senegal is very volatile and the people, especially the youth are determined to stop the President and his camp. Unless something is done to prevent it, the country could slide into chaos. There is indeed disturbing information that President Macky Sall has created a private militia and purchased large quantities of weapons. A recent report by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) documents how the President bypassed the defense ministry and used his ministry of the environment as a proxy to make those purchases. These include, but are not limited to 120 pallets of pistols and large quantities of ammunitions. The fact that the purchase took place outside of regular government procurement channels and shipped to the presidency rather than the defense ministry is deeply troubling, to say the least.