“Retired soldiers repeatedly intervene in the media and social media to express, in most cases, political opinions, in flagrant violation of the laws and regulations in force,” Mr. Tine said before reminding personnel serving in the armed forces as well as those who have retired of the sanctions to which they are exposed when they violate the obligations inherent in their profession as soldiers.
Following the publication of the results of the presidential election on February 24, the Secretary of Defense of the Rewmi party, Colonel Abdourahim Kébé, took to his Facebook account to launch a passionate response against what in his opinion was an electoral hold-up which “Macron’s henchmen want to impose on us.”
Kebe, a retired soldier was apparently unhappy about the provisional results of the 2019 presidential election, giving President Macky Sall victory with more than 58 percent of the votes.
Sall’s re-election was confirmed last Tuesday by the Constitutional Council, to the profound displeasure of Colonel Kébé’s political leader, Idrissa Seck, who came second out of the five candidates with over 20 percent of the vote.
Arrested and then released after three days in police custody, Colonel Kébé is currently under judicial supervision.
Rewmi’s vice-president, Déthié Fall, had described the arrest of the former soldier as part of a witch hunt against his party’s militants.
The Armed Forces minister, referring to the law, emphasised that “soldiers, even retired, remain subject to the obligation of loyalty to the republic and the duty of reserve (…) until the age of 65.”