East African Gazette and Agency
Dakar
Senegal woke up Tuesday to interesting news of the new president-elect, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, a former tax inspector and political newcomer who was released from prison just weeks ago.
Faye had inspired voters, many of them unemployed youth, with a vow to fight corruption and reform the economy.
He was catapulted into a presidential campaign after popular opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, who was barred from running due to a prior conviction, had backed him.
As he gave his first speech as president-elect on Monday evening, it represented a dramatic rise for the 44-year-old who is due to be the youngest leader of the West African nation.
“I pledge to govern with humility and transparency and to fight corruption at all levels. I pledge to devote myself fully to rebuilding our institutions,” he said, restating promises made during his campaign
While official results of Sunday’s vote were not yet available, the other front-runner — the former prime minister who was backed by incumbent President Macky Sall had conceded defeat.
Mr Sall followed with congratulations, also naming Mr Faye as the winner.
The election followed months of unrest ignited by Mr Faye and Mr Sonko’s arrest last year, and concerns that the president would seek a third term in office despite constitutional term limits.
The violence shook Senegal’s reputation as a stable democracy in a region that has seen a wave of coups.
Rights groups said dozens were killed in the protests, while some 1,000 people were jailed.
Considered the anti-establishment candidate, Mr Faye’s campaign messages of economic reform and anti-corruption resonated with the youth.
Almost a third of young people are unemployed with thousands risking their lives on dangerous journeys in search of jobs in the West.
Mr Faye has vowed to improve Senegal’s control over its natural resources by promoting national companies to prevent the country from falling into what his campaign called “economic enslavement”
His manifesto promised to renegotiate Senegal’s oil and gas contract and introduce a new currency
The election was largely peaceful and early counts showed voters turned out overwhelmingly in favour of the opposition.
Mr Sonko had promised a resounding victory on his YouTube channel. By Monday evening in Dakar, Mr Faye had been declared the winner and celebrations erupted in neighbourhoods around the capital, where supporters danced, played music and set off fireworks.
Faye’s hometown
Faye’s roots lie in a small town in central Senegal. He is a practising Muslim and has two wives.
Ahead of Sunday’s election, Faye published a declaration of his assets and called on other candidates to do the same.
It lists a home in Dakar as well as land outside the capital and in his hometown. His bank accounts hold roughly 6,600 US dollars (£5,212).
Education Background
After studying law and graduating from Senegal’s National School of Administration in 2004, Faye became a tax inspector.
This was when he met Mr Sonko, also a tax inspector, and joined his newly formed party PASTEF.He quickly became a prominent figure in the party and was named general secretary in 2021.
“I would even say that he is more honest than me. I place the project in his hands,” Mr Sonko told supporters at a joint news conference in March of last year.
Weeks later, Mr Faye was arrested and jailed on various charges, including defamation.
Faye paid tribute to Sonko in his speech but declined to say what role he would play in his government.
Faye‘s election caught many Senegalese politicians off-guard.
Faye has never been a minister and wasn’t a statesman but his strategy of fighting poverty, injustice and corruption made him the man of season. Although analysts like Alioune Tine critics question his lack of experience.
Faye will now replace Macky Sall, who has been the President of Senegal. Sall served as Mayor from 2009 to 2012, Prime Minister for three years from 2004 to 2007, and also acted as President of the Senegalese National Assembly from 2007 to 2008.
Elected fourth President of the Republic of Senegal in March of 2012, he took office on April 2, 2012. Married to Marième Faye and has two sons and one daughter.
Faye and Ousmane Sonko
Bassirou Diomaye Faye was announced in February as the so-called “Plan B”
Candidate, replacing the charismatic opposition firebrand Ousmane Sonko. “I would even say that he has more integrity than me,” Mr Sonko said proudly.
Both men founded the now-disbanded Pastef party, both men are tax collectors, and both men found themselves jailed last year on charges they said were politically motivated.
Mr Sonko ended up being convicted of two offences, which meant he was barred from the election, so Mr Faye stepped in.
“Bassirou is me,” Mr Sonko told supporters recently. “They are two sides of the same coin,” Pastef colleague Moustapha Sarré agrees.
About the election
The election was originally due last month but Mr Sall postponed it just hours before campaigning was set to begin, triggering deadly opposition protests and a democratic crisis.
Most candidates had very little time to prepare once the new election date was set – but Mr Faye had just over a week after being freed from jail.
Despite the shortened campaign period, Senegal’s citizens were adamant they would turn out and use their vote, Christopher Fomunyoh – of the National Democratic Institute for international affairs – told BBC NEWS
“Senegal is in the process of confirming that democracies can self-correct and come out stronger and more resilient.”
And the true test for Senegal’s clean-up guy has only just begun