Brighton Mutebuka, a UK-based Zimbabwean academic, asserts that the election of Bassirou Diomaye Faye as the President of Senegal underscores several critical factors that contribute to the success of young African politicians in elections. 
These factors include an independent electoral body, minimal intervention by the security establishment, and a populist political message.
Bassirou Diomaye Faye, a relatively unheralded 44-year-old opposition leader, secured an impressive 53.7% of the votes in Senegal’s presidential election held recently, making him the youngest elected president in Africa.
Faye’s victory reflects the youth’s frustration with high unemployment and concerns about governance in the West African nation.
Commenting on this development, Mutebuka acknowledges that while it remains uncertain whether the Pan-Africanism and anti-colonial sentiment that propelled Faye into office can extend to Southern Africa, the possibility of change exists when the electoral body operates independently and the military refrains from propping up incumbents. Wrote Mutebuka:
<blockquote>
<h2>Lessons From Bassirou Diomaye Faye’s Election As Senegalese President</h2>
1. In Africa, perhaps sub-Saharan Africa, age is no longer a barrier to ascendancy to the highest office.
2. Whilst there is no guarantee that what happened in Senegal can be replicated elsewhere, particularly pertaining to the strength of feeling vis-à-vis Pan-Africanism &amp; anti-colonial sentiment, it seems that there is a general trend in that direction which can be deployed to tap into young voters.
3. Perhaps the strength of feeling / relative radicalism is more pronounced in West Africa where we have witnessed wildly / radically anti-French coups which have achieved resonance with the rank &amp; file citizens in Mali, Burkina Faso &amp; Niger.
4. It is not clear at this point whether or not such sentiments can extend to the rough &amp; tumble of Southern African politics, especially in Zimbabwe.
5. @Julius_S_Malema has clearly been doing well by championing a populist pro-poor &amp; pro-Russia &amp; China agenda &amp; by definition, anti-West. What is clear is that he has not been doing well enough nationally to threaten to torpedo the prevailing political orthodoxy &amp; thus upend @MYANC’s dominance.
6. In Zimbabwe there’s an entrenched military-industrial complex in power and there are solid grounds that but for that interference in political matters, regime change would have taken place in elections which took place in 2002, 2005, 2008, 2013, 2018 &amp; 2023.
7. Zambia, Botswana, Namibia &amp; South Africa are, in comparison to Mozambique, Angola, Lesotho, Swaziland &amp; DRC, relatively stable democracies where the will of the people can roughly be expected to prevail, bar one or two considerations.
8. It would appear that the key ingredients for transition to take place are: an independent electoral body, lack of intervention by the security establishment and a sound / populist political message which galvanises the masses &amp; captures the prevailing mood / resonates with the grassroots.
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
Whilst it is clear that West Africa is a hotbed of anti-French political sentiments, it’s unclear whether or not such undercurrents also permeate the underbelly of Southern African politics. Democracy is still clearly a work in progress in the region – perhaps it could be said in retreat.
Liberation Struggle political parties still hold sway but largely through exploiting their struggle credentials via conflating / blurring the boundaries between party &amp; state institutions – which makes for unstable democracies, and fluid &amp; uncertain political futures.
</blockquote>
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

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Lessons From Bassirou Diomaye Faye's Election As Senegalese President - Mutebuka

Bassirou Diomaye Faye, a relatively unknown 44-year-old opposition leader, has secured approximately 53.7% of the votes in Senegal’s presidential election, according to the country’s electoral commission as reported by Reuters on Monday.
Meanwhile, the ruling coalition candidate, Amadou Bataking, received 36.2% of the votes. These provisional results are based on vote tallies from 90% of the polling stations.
Faye is poised to become the next president of the West African nation, achieving this milestone in less than two weeks after being released from prison to participate in the election
According to the Senegalese News Agency (APS), the constitutional council will announce the results starting April 3rd.
According to <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-68656967">BBC</a>, Bassirou Diomaye Faye was announced in February as the so-called “Plan B” candidate, replacing the charismatic opposition firebrand Ousmane Sonko.
Both men founded the now-disbanded Pastef party, both men are tax collectors, and both men were jailed last year on charges they said were politically motivated.
Sonko ended up being convicted of two offences, which meant he was barred from the election, so Faye stepped in.
The election was originally due last month but Senegal’s incumbent president Macky 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 Faye had just over a week after being freed from jail.
Sall congratulated Faye on Monday, March 25, while the former prime minister who was the other frontrunner, and who was backed by incumbent President Sall, conceded defeat based on preliminary results.
Dioamaye Faye promised to rule with humility and protect Senegal from corruption and interference from foreign powers.
He also vowed to advance Africa’s political and economic integration and also pledged reliability to Senegal’s partners.
Faye’s performance reflected frustration among youth with high unemployment and concerns about governance in the West African nation.
Faye’s roots lie in a small town in central Senegal. He is a practising Muslim and has two wives.
He had been jailed on various charges, including defamation.
More than 7 million people were registered to vote in a country of roughly 17 million and the civil society observer group known as COSCE said voter turnout was over 61%. To win, candidates had to secure more than 50% of the vote.
Sunday’s election was also the first without a sitting president on the ballot after the introduction of term limits that barred Sall from seeking a third term.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Senegal’s Opposition Candidate Wins More Than 53% Of The Vote In Presidential Election

Ousmane Sonko, Senegal’s prominent opposition leader, has been freed from prison ahead of the presidential election scheduled for March 24, 2024. His release triggered jubilant celebrations across the capital, Dakar.
Sonko and his key ally, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, were both set free on Thursday, March 14, his lawyer Bamba Cisse told <a href="https://apnews.com/article/senegal-sonko-presidential-election-prison-release-fcfc43111c85ab971af0b3e716d9f04b">The Associated Press</a>.
Sonko is widely seen as the main challenger to President Macky Sall’s ruling party.
Upon his release, he was greeted outside the prison by crowds of supporters waving flags, chanting, and holding up posters.
Sonko had been in prison since July and has fought a prolonged legal battle to run for president in the upcoming election.
His fiery campaign to tackle corruption has resonated with young people in a country facing economic hardship, partly attributed to Russia’s war in Ukraine which has led to rising food and energy prices.
Sall himself decided not to seek a third term in office after Sonko’s supporters launched months of protests that at times turned deadly.
Sonko’s presidential bid faced legal challenges, including accusations of rape and defamation in 2021.
He was acquitted of the rape charges but was convicted of corrupting youth and sentenced to two years in prison last summer, which ignited deadly protests across the country.
His supporters maintain that these were efforts to derail his candidacy.
Sonko’s release follows Sall’s decree to exonerate political prisoners, including hundreds who were arrested in the violent protests last year.
Sall tried to postpone the election last month, just weeks before it was to take place on February 25.
The Constitutional Council rejected Sall’s postponement and ordered the government to set a new date as soon as possible.
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Senegal’s Top Opposition Leader Freed From Prison 10 Days Before Presidential Poll

The President of Senegal, Macky Sall, is set to officially open this year’s Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) which will run from 25 to 29 April 2023.
Writing in his latest weekly column in The Sunday Mail, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, said:
<blockquote>
… We will be hosting the President of Senegal, His Excellency, Macky Sall, who is billed to open our Zimbabwe International Trade Fair, ZITF, in Bulawayo.
</blockquote>
It will be Sall’s first visit to Zimbabwe since his election as the President of Senegal in 2012.
Mnangagwa was also in Dakar, Senegal in January this year to attend the 2 Feed Africa Summit.
The 2023 edition of the ZITF will also be the first time in the past few years that the trade exhibition has been officially opened by a foreign head of state.
The 2021 and 2022 editions were officially opened by President Mnangagwa.
The 2022 edition was billed to be officially opened by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta but he cancelled his visit following the death of Kenya’s former President Mwai Kibaki.
This year’s edition of the ZITF will run under the theme: “Continuous innovation, Global competitiveness”.
More: <a href="https://zero.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

Senegal President Macky Sall Set To Officially Open 2023 ZITF

The Zimbabwean Embassy in Senegal has been given 20 hectares of arable land for the production of white maize in the west African country.
Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Senegal, James Maridadi said he decided to experiment on the production of white maize after realising that the west African country focused on growing yellow maize for stock feed.
He said he was initially working on a five-hectare piece of land in Dakar, Senegal, which has largely been successful. Said Maridadi:
<blockquote>
What happened is that when I initially came here, I realised that they don’t do white maize in this region, they do yellow maize, which is mostly for stock feed and they import about US$160 million worth of white maize to subsidize their consumption.
I then approached the Ministry of Agriculture in Senegal, where I got five hectares of land to do an experiment on white maize production.
I got seed from Zimbabwe, bought fertilizer here in Senegal, and did the five hectares and the results were amazing.
I did a field day where I invited about 200 commercial farmers and 500 subsistence farmers to come and it was a huge day because the government of Senegal also came to participate and 11 other ambassadors from other nations in the African continent.
What has happened now is that the government of Senegal has allocated more land, about 20 hectares of land, so this year I am going full force in this experiment of ours. I will use the SC719 variety being done by SeedCo.
</blockquote>
Maridadi, a former ZBC presenter and MDC MP, said African countries should wean themselves off relying on Europe to feed their people. He said:
<blockquote>
In Africa, I believe we have to eat what we produce and produce what we eat therefore we cannot have a situation where African countries import food from Europe, look how many countries have been affected by their inability now to import from Ukraine.
What we want is that when we introduce the white maize seed variety from Zimbabwe which works here, SeedCo, for example, can then sell intellectual rights to Senegal and Senegal can start manufacturing those seeds under license from Zimbabwe thereby earning foreign currency for the country, that is what we call economic diplomacy.
</blockquote>
| <a href="https://www.sundaynews.co.zw/zimbabwe-embassy-gets-land-from-senegal/?_ga=2.78553372.902637503.1674878318-1476354146.1643948410">The Sunday News</a>

Zimbabwe Embassy Gets Land In Senegal To Grow White Maize

A fistfight broke out among legislators in Senegal’s parliament on Thursday after a male opposition lawmaker slapped a female colleague in the face.
The attack reportedly happened during a budget presentation.
Opposition MP Massata Samb walked over and slapped Amy Ndiaye Gniby of the ruling Benno Bokk Yakaar (BBY) coalition, resulting in a brawl.
Gniby threw a chair back at Samb before another MP tackled her to the floor. The session was eventually suspended as MPs exchanged blows, accusations, and insults.
Samb was addressing the assembly about comments Gniby made over the weekend in which she criticised a spiritual leader opposed to a third term for Senegal President Macky Sall. Samb said:
<blockquote>
Mister President, a deputy has stood in front of this tribune to insult someone’s marabout (spiritual leader).
</blockquote>
Gniby made fun of Samb’s remarks and declared she did not care, after which Samb walked over and hit her, sparking a mass brawl among MPs.
In July this year, reports suggested that Sall will seek a third term in 2024. This resulted in the ruling party losing its comfortable parliamentary majority in elections held that month.
Since then, tension has been growing between ruling and opposition politicians.
Sall (60) has refused to state clearly whether he plans to run for a third term.
Currently, the Senegalese constitution provides for a two-term presidential limit but Sall’s supporters argue a constitutional reform reset the clock, allowing him to run again. | <a href="https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/feminists-denounce-slapping-of-female-politician-in-senegals-parliament/">SABC News</a>

Senegal Opposition MP Slaps Female Lawmaker In Parliament

Senegal has abolished the Senate (Upper House of Parliament) in a move aimed at saving money to help victims of perennial floods in the country’s capital, Dakar.
Senegalese President Macky Sall said the money, about US$15 Million, will go towards preventing the recurrence of floods.
The Senate was abolished after a vote by MPs. The vote also abolished the post of Vice President in Africa’s fastest growing economy.
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