Senegal: Freedom to Free Faye
Senegal: Freedom to Free Faye
One day, he was in prison and unknown. The next, he was declared president of a nation.
The story of the newly elected president of Senegal, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, seems like an episode from a fairy tale.
Ten days to the historic elections in Senegal on March 14, Bassirou Diomaye Faye was still a prisoner in a prison on the outskirts of Dakar.
He was a substitute candidate for Ousmane Sonko, after the disqualification of Sonko, the popular leader of the African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity (PASTEF) Party, following a conviction for defamation which led to his imprisonment.
The surprising emergence of the 44-year-old tax inspector and rural farmer as president-elect makes him the youngest president ever elected in Senegal. He is now one of the seven youngest presidents in Africa.
About 7.3 million people were registered to vote in the country of over 18 million people. It was estimated that about 71% of the registered voters turned out, Aljazeera reported.
Faye emerged as the president of Senegal after three years of prolonged violence and turbulent attacks to discourage and delay the election.
Senegal, once identified as a fully free country by the Freedom House, now identifies as a partially free country as its scores on its people’s political rights and civil liberties have seen a slow decline in the last three years.
The manifesto presented by Mr Faye suggests that he will be transparent and accessible and allow for more participation of civil societies and other non-partisan actors in his government.
“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.”
These strong words, if acted on, could improve the freedom score of the country and revert the country’s freedom status to “free” once again.
Freedom to Choose Faye
Senegal has been described as one of the African countries with a stable democracy and a history of young presidents. The Freedom House rated it a ‘Free’ country between 2013 and 2019.
Research has shown that countries ranked fully free tend to have younger people as their presidents.
Senegal used to be one until 2019.
The country dropped from the status of Free to Partly Free in 2020, according to the Freedom House Report.
The country’s freedom score dropped from 75 out of 100 in 2013 to 68 out of 100 by 2023. Their Political Rights score now stands at 29 out of 40, while their Civil Liberties score is 39 out of 60.
The Freedom ranking measures the citizens' level of freedom in exercising their rights in their country.
It is measured by calculating the level of political rights and civil liberties in the country using seven key indicators: Electoral processes, Political participation and pluralism, Functioning of government, Freedom of expression and belief, Association and organisational rights, the rule of law, and Personal autonomy and individual rights.
The decline in the freedom score and status of Senegal can be attributed to the three years of violence, manipulation, and protests leading up to the election. It was reported that the rights of the citizens were repressed and restricted.
Historically, Senegal has been known to elect young presidents, except in the case of Abdoulaye Waye, who was 74 when he was elected.
Most countries in Africa are either partly free or not free. Only 6 of 54 African countries are considered free: Botswana, Ghana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Seychelles. All these countries are in the southern part of Africa, except Ghana, which is located in West Africa.
Age and African Leadership
Currently, Senegal’s President-elect, Bassirou Faye, is among the 77 heads of state below 60 years old worldwide. He also ranks as one of the 7 young presidents in Africa, according to the analysis by Virtual Capitalist
Globally, the age range of Heads of State is between 35 (Ibrahim Traore, Burkina Faso), the youngest. and 90 (Paul Biya, Cameroon), the oldest.
USAID described Senegal as one of the most stable democracies in West Africa. It has a reputation for peaceful transitions of political power from one president to another.
The recent report by Freedom House shows that the country has not had a coup, a case of a rigged election, nor its laws entrenched in systems of authoritarianism.
Senegal has a unique political system and structure which has brought in only four presidents since its independence in 1960.
Going by the global trend, the relatively young age of most of the Senegalese presidents upon assuming office correlates with the evidence of its long-standing stable democracy.
Faye might be the youngest president of Senegal, but most of the past presidents of Senegal can also be considered young. Most of their past presidents are below 60, except for Abdoulaye Waye, who was 74 years old when he took office.
Under these presidents, they managed to adopt liberal democratic policies that have consolidated democracy in Senegal, such as a fair power-sharing system among groups and a strong political pluralism and participation of civil societies and political agencies.
Despite the nation having a stable democracy, they share the burden of long stays in office as other African nations.
Recently, we have seen the rise of seven young presidents in Africa.
Ibrahim Traore, Burkina Faso (36 years), Mahamat Deby, Chad (39 years), Colonel Assimi Goita, Mali (41 years), Mamady Doumbouya, Guinea (44 years), Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia (47), Andry Rajoelina, Madagascar (49) and the recent addition Bassiwu Diomaye Faye, Senegal (44 years).
Africa, a continent with 54 countries, has a substantial youth population. The young population makes up 60% of its total population.
The rise of the continent could be tied to the rise in its youth population in all spheres of development, including good governance.
For Africa, a lot can be learnt from Senegal.