First Independent Mena Newspaper
Senegal has officially ended one of Africa’s oldest conflicts with the signing of a peace agreement between the government and the separatist Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC). The agreement, brokered by Guinea-Bissau’s president Umaro Sissoco Embalo, brings a historic conclusion to the 40-year-long low-key struggle for independence by Casamance rebels in the southern […]
The National Commission for the Counting of Votes has officially announced on November 21 the results, confirming a landslide victory for Ousmane Sonko’s Pastef party. Pastef secured 130 out of 165 parliamentary seats, far exceeding the 3/5 qualified majority it aimed for, now controlling 78% of the legislature. This historic win includes victories in 40 […]
Only hours after being sworn in as Senegal’s president on Tuesday (2 April), Bassirou Diomaye Faye named popular opposition figure Ousmane Sonko as the nation’s prime minister. At 44, former tax inspector Bassirou Diomaye Faye is Senegal’s youngest president ever elected. During his campaign, he vowed to fight corruption, promised to renegotiate oil, gas and […]
Senegalese newly elected president, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, appointed popular opposition leader Ousmane Sonko as his prime minister. Like Faye 44, Sonko 49 also went to jail and was released following a political amnesty by outgoing president Macky Sall. Sonko was announced soon after Faye was sworn in, becoming Africa’s youngest president and ending a period […]
Senegal’s leading opposition candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye on Monday (25 March) appeared to be reaching victory in the country’s delayed presidential election, as people have already taken to the streets in celebration of the end of incumbent President Macky Sall’s administration. The 44-year-old opposition candidate and tax inspector Bassirou Diomaye Faye appears to be reaching […]
Senegal’s delayed presidential election will be held on 24 March, the country’s President Macky Sall has announced, following weeks of political turmoil and violent protests calling for an immediate vote. Senegalese voters should finally head to the polls at the end of March, following a string of announcements by the president and government on Wednesday, […]
A total of 79 individuals, including the jailed opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, are reported to have filed their candidacy for the February 2024 presidential election in Senegal before the Tuesday (26 December) deadline amid allegations that the Senegalese authorities have been intensifying repression ahead of the vote. When Macky Sall, President of Senegal since 2012, […]
Senegalese authorities have detained Juan Branco, a French lawyer and adviser to opposition figure Ousmane Sonko, on charges of call for uprising and dissemination of false information. Branco has been subject to an arrest warrant issued by Senegal but he challenged the warrant, showing up at a press conference in capital Dakar on July 30, […]
Two people were killed Monday during protests in southern Senegal in response to the indictment and arrest of the leading opposition figure Ousmane Sonko last week and a day after Sonko, in custody, announced he had started a hunger strike. Senegal’s public prosecutor on Saturday July 29 announced seven new charges for various crimes, including […]
Senegalese opposition leader Ousmane Sonko has led a peaceful protest after the authorities blocked a rally to publicly confirm he would run in next year’s presidential elections, as the country’s prosecutor has filed an international arrest warrant against Sonko’s French lawyer. The 49-year-old main opposition figure, dressed in red in a sign of anger, appeared […]