44-year-old Diomaye Fayeh has been sworn in as Senegal’s youngest president – the ceremony took place on on Tuesday, April 2.
The young pan-Africanist leftwinger moves in as president has just 10 days after his release from prison under President Sall’s political amnesty along with popular opposition figure Ousmane Sonko.
Faye was accused of speaking against the judiciary when he criticised the Dakar Court of Appeal’s decision to close Sonko’s case without giving him the chance to appeal.
On 14 April 2023, he was charged with “contempt of court, defamation and acts likely to compromise public peace” for being vocal about a trial that would make Sonko ineligible for the 2024 presidential elections.
In a twist of events, Sonko relinquished his position to support Faye, several MPs – Guy Marius Sagna, Birame Souleye Diop, and Abass Fall – who were contenders in the presidential elections, withdrew their candidacies which made Faye the sole candidate of the party, PASTEF (The African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity).
Being a former tax inspector, Faye has assumed presidency without prior elected office experience as Senegal’s 5th president since independence from France in 1960.
Several African leaders, including Nigeria’s Bola Ahmed Tinubu, attended the ceremony in the new town of Diamniadio, near the capital, Dakar.
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