Senegal heads to the polls amid fiscal crisis, threat of unrest
Dakar, Senegal Reuters Senegal will vote in legislative elections on Sunday that will determine whether the new president and government can gain control over the national assembly and push through their agenda for reforms. The high stakes in the election are threatening to spark renewed unrest following a period of calm. The run-up to the […]
Senegal’s new government has been appointed, PM Sonko says
Dakar, Senegal Reuters Senegal has a new government with 25 ministers and five junior ministers, Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko said on Friday, following the President’s landslide election victory in March. The cabinet was approved by President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, 44, who was inaugurated on Tuesday and appointed Sonko, a key backer, as Prime Minister. Faye […]
Senegal’s Faye set to become president in opposition victory
Updated: 11:15am (AEDT) Dakar, Senegal Reuters Senegal opposition presidential candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye, a political newcomer popular among disaffected youth, promised on Monday to govern with humility and transparency. Faye, set to be declared the next president after his main rival called him to concede defeat, thanked President Macky Sall and other candidates for respecting […]
Senegal opposition candidate Faye leads initial presidential election tallies
Dakar, Senegal Reuters The first polling station tallies of Senegal’s delayed presidential election on Sunday showed opposition candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye taking the lead, prompting street celebrations after a peaceful day of voting that many hope will bring change. Millions lined up to elect Senegal’s fifth president following three years of unprecedented political turbulence that […]
From restaurants to water towers, unrest dents Senegal’s economy
Dakar, Senegal Reuters A KFC restaurant ransacked. Public transport torched. Glass-paneled stations for a multi-million dollar electric bus link shattered. A water plant vandalised. Senegal is taking stock of the damage after the jail sentencing of prominent opposition figure Ousmane Sonko sparked the worst civil unrest in decades that threatens to dent progress in one […]
Senegal protesters and police clash again as death toll rises to 10
Daka, Senegal Reuters One more person was killed in Senegal on Friday, as police and protesters clashed for a second day since the sentencing of opposition politician Ousmane Sonko sparked some of the deadliest violence in recent memory. Nine people died in clashes between police and Sonko supporters on Thursday after he was sentenced to […]
Crowds clash with riot police as Senegal’s Sonko sentenced to jail
Dakar, Senegal Reuters Supporters of Senegal opposition leader Ousmane Sonko threw rocks at riot police and set fire to busses on Thursday after a court sentenced him in absentia to two years in jail, hitting his chances of running for president next year. Sonko, 48, was accused of raping a woman who worked in a […]