APA-Dakar (Senegal) – For some detractors of the new regime, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has backed out of his promise to call for candidates for senior management positions.
In Senegal, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye waited one month after his election to make the first appointments to strategic management positions. These are 18 individual measures taken at the third Council of Ministers of the new government, held on Wednesday 24 April.
On the military front, General Moussa Fall was relieved of his duties as High Commander of the National Gendarmerie and Director of Military Justice. His role in the political demonstrations that caused nearly
80 deaths between 2021 and 2024 is highly controversial. He has been replaced by General Martin Faye, previously Deputy Commander of the National Gendarmerie and Deputy Director of Military Justice.
As far as civilian posts were concerned, a number of officials from the former regime knew that they were in an ejector’s seat. Most of the appointments have gone to militants of the new ruling party, ‘Patriotes africains du Senegal pour le Travail, l’Ethique et la Fraternite’ (PASTEFf). The allies of the Diomaye President Coalition
and other personalities who worked for the third changeover at the top of the state have not been forgotten by the fifth president.
At ‘Radio Television Senegalaise (RTS, state-owned), the appointment of journalist Pape Ale Niang is seen by many observers as a well-deserved reward. Under Macky Sall’s regime, the director of the Dakarmatin news website defended positions close to the opposition of the time, notably Ousmane Sonko, which led to him being imprisoned several times. He replaces Racine Talla, mayor of a commune in the Dakar suburbs and a member of the former ruling party.
Waly Diouf Bodiang, a senior tax and property inspector, has been appointed managing director of the Société nationale du Port Autonome de Dakar. A leader of PASTEF, he was placed under electronic surveillance for many months by the former authorities. He replaces Mountaga Sy, who has held several management positions under Macky Sall.
PASTEF activists and allies at the helm
Fadilou Keita, an expert in financial management at the ‘Caisse des Depôts et Consignations’ (CDC), has been appointed Managing Director of this strategic institution, replacing Cheikh Issa Sall, Mayor of Mbour. The latter had distinguished himself in January 2024 by his refusal to issue Sonko’s agent with the certificate of deposit of the 30 million CFA francs deposit, one of the essential documents for validating a presidential election candidacy with the Constitutional Council. The mayor of Ziguinchor was ultimately rejected for other reasons, even though he had taken the precaution of designating Bassirou Diomaye Faye as the substitute candidate for PASTEF’s
sovereign project.
This is a high-profile promotion for Mr Keita, who is also PASTEF’s political tour coordinator (Nemeku Tour). Arrested at the end of 2022 following a Facebook post on the disappearance of a gendarme close to his family, the son of the former president of the Office national de lutte contre la fraude et la corruption (OFNAC), Nafy Ngom Keita, was only released in January this year.
In addition, environmental expert Cheikh Dieng, an ally of the Diomaye Président coalition, has replaced Mamadou Mamour Diallo as director general of the Office national de l’Assainissement du Sénégal (ONAS).
Mamadou Mamour Diallo has been accused by Ousmane Sonko, the president of PASTEF and the new Prime Minister, of having been involved in the alleged land scandal estimated at 94 billion CFA francs. This has led to a long-standing enmity between the two men.
The former mayor of Saint-Louis (north) Cheikh Bamba Dieye, who joined Diomaye Président at the outset, has been appointed managing director of the Aéroport International Blaise Diagne (AIBD SA). A minister in
Macky Sall’s first government in 2012, he replaces Abdoulaye Dièye at AIBD, while the former mayor of Ziguinchor (south), Abdoulaye Balde, has been dismissed from the ‘Agence pour la Promotion des
Investissements et des Grands Travaux’ (Major Works and Investment Promotion Agency, APIX SA). Bacary Sega Bathily, a project management specialist, is the new Managing Director.
Moctar Magassouba, Serigne Mamadou Mboup and Marie Rose Faye have been appointed respectively to Société immobilière du Cap Vert (SICAP SA), Société d’Aménagement et de Promotion des Côtes et Zones touristiques du Sénégal (SAPCO SA) and Agence de Développement et d’Encadrement des petites et moyennes entreprises (ADEPME). Tax and property inspectors Magatte Diakhate and Abdou Gning have inherited the directorates of Legislation and International Cooperation and Property.
On the other hand, some opponents of the current regime believe that President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has not kept his promise. This is because he had indicated in his programme that management positions would henceforth be subject to a call for candidates. However, President Faye’s defenders point out that this campaign promise relates only to certain management positions, and there are still several others to be filled.
ODL/te/fss/as/APA