PM Ousmane Sonko took advantage of Saturday’s clean-up day, initiated by President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, to give a clean sweep to the latest political events with their death toll. The PM declared that these events should never happen again. He also promised to sweep up the Palace of the Republic, as well as the Judiciary.

 Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko took advantage of Clean-up Day on Saturday to reflect on the painful political events of 2021. He maintains that these painful events should never happen again in Senegal. “The Senegalese must bear in mind that God saved us, but also that we were saved thanks to the prayers of our country’s highly respected personalities. I am convinced that without this, we could have fallen into a situation similar to that of most of the countries around us, in 2023. All this was caused by the fact that we entrusted the country to people who, instead of working for the good of the population, acted differently. Whether it’s the President, a minister, a magistrate, etc. », he declares at the outset.

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Indicating that the clean-up must include a change in behaviour, the PM explained. “When we talk about sweeping, we’re not just talking about sweeping the streets, but also sweeping all behaviour. If you remember, exactly one year ago, on June 1, 2023, at this time, the Senegalese had no head for sweeping anything. Tear gas, burning tires and Internet blackouts were everywhere in the country. All because of people who were supposed to be looking after the concerns of the people, but who spent their time organizing settling of scores and conspiracies », highlights the PM.

This clean-up needs to be extended to institutions, according to Sonko. “That’s why I say the sweep must be much broader. I promise you that, when we’ve finished sweeping, you’ll really see who did what. If it’s me, Ousmane Sonko, who’s done something, you’ll know. If it’s someone else, you’ll know that too. But before we can do that, we absolutely have to sweep the institutions. We’re going to start by sweeping the justice system, because I find it very difficult to let the same people who caused all this continue to act as before », he conceded.

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Finally, the PM firmly believes that restoring peace and stability in the country will require extending the clean-up to all spheres of government. “We’re going to sweep the Palace of the Republic and the government. The clean-up will be extended everywhere, because our priority is to get the country back on track. This will not only enable the Senegalese people to get back together, but also to stop insulting each other and bickering. Because whatever happens, Senegal has never experienced this before. We all have very different points of view, but it has to be done in healthy adversity, not malice,” he admitted.

By Amadou MBODJI / ambodji@lequotidien.sn

  • Translation by Ndey T. SOSSEH