Ousmane Sonko, the opponent who electrifies Senegal

Herald of the struggle for the people and against the corrupt elites for some, incendiary agitator for others, Ousmane Sonko, 48, has become in less than ten years a central figure of the Senegalese opposition. A meteoric rise for this former tax inspector who began to make himself known in 2014 by his virulent criticism of the management of public funds by the State and the government, going so far as to denounce tax fraud. The Senegalese President, Macky Sall, is one of the prime targets of his attacks. The reaction of the State is not long in coming: Ousmane Sonko is struck off in 2016 from the General Tax Inspectorate for “breach of the duty of reserve”. This heavy sanction, far from weakening him, gives him great media exposure which also benefits his political party, the African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity (Pastef), founded two years earlier.

On the strength of his new notoriety, he continues to denounce the embezzlement and petty financial arrangements of the presidential clan, attracting more and more interest and sympathy from a part of the youth outraged by the behavior of its political leaders.

In 2017, he published Oil and Gas in Senegal. Chronicle of a spoliation (1), book in which he denounces the management of these natural resources of the country by Macky Sall. Echoing this scandal, a BBC documentary accuses Aliou Sall, the brother of the head of state, of having received a bribe during transactions related to these resources. This gives even more credibility to his position as a political opponent.

The same year, Ousmane Sonko was elected deputy and launched himself into the race for the 2019 presidential election with speeches denouncing the corruption of the ruling class, attacking multinationals and the hold on Senegal exercised, according to him, by the former French colonial power. These subjects have won him strong support among the youngest. He finished third with 15.67%, behind outgoing President Macky Sall and former Prime Minister Idrissa Seck.

This experience led him to adopt a new political strategy, that of alliances, of the common front to significantly win votes and conquer political positions. This is how, in view of the municipal elections on January 23, Ousmane Sonko joined forces with several members of the opposition, including the former mayor of Dakar Khalifa Sall, to give birth to the coalition “Yewwi Askan wi” (Liberer the people). He won the town hall of Ziguinchor with 56.31% of the vote.

His coalition also won many cities, including the capital Dakar. Declared presidential candidate of 2024, here he is propelled to the head of the anti-liberal political opposition, claiming Pan-Africanism and anti-French sovereignty.

His rise is marred, however, by two court cases. The first, the most serious, broke out in February 2021 with the rape complaint filed by an employee of a beauty salon in the capital, Adji Sarr. In March 2021, the arrest of the opponent on the way to court sparked riots between his supporters and his detractors, which left at least twelve dead. This court case with multiple twists and turns has just experienced a new episode, this Thursday, June 1, with his sentence to two years in prison pronounced by the Dakar court. A sentence which, if confirmed on appeal, will make him ineligible in 2024. And which is in addition to his recent six-month suspended prison sentence for defamation against a minister. As soon as the verdict was known, some of his supporters gathered in Zingachor and Saint-Louis and in Dakar where clashes began at the university raising fears of new violence with the police.

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