Even before he assumed office as Senegal’s fifth president, Bassirou Diomaye Faye was beginning to enjoy something of a ‘rock star’ status not only in his country but also among young people across Africa who are familiar with his message of hope and hungry for change.
During his inaugural speech ushering him to the presidency, Mr Faye’s words while suggesting unity also spoke to this youthful African exhuberance which has not been properly channeled to the right cause for meaningful change in countries with either dubious and therefore shaky democractic traditions or none at all.
His fairytale rise from a non-descript political prisoner a forthnight ago to the highest echelons of officialdom in Senegal has imbued hope and confidence within the continent’s teeming mass of unemployed and sometimes well educated youths whose governments dont seem to know how to utilise them going forward.
Winning his country’s most prestigious office and braving fire and brimstone to pull it off provides the most fascinating political blockbuster which is sure to resonate far and wide in Africa and maybe beyond – that it was for the wind of change to blow their way when courage meets meticulous planning against all the odds.
The fact that at 44, Faye is relatively young amidst the all-too familiar array of doddering old African statesmen who remain poised to cling onto power despite their growing unpopularity makes him a breath of fresh air for young people across the continent who may see his life story as a template to draw inspiration from to feed their own political ambition for meaningful change.
This is especially true in African countries where the democratic space is not big enough to accommodate young people with political ambitions and drive to follow in Mr Faye’s footsteps which will be hard to replicate.
Faye’s positive distinction as the youngest democratically elected president in Africa today makes his feat a hard Herculean act to follow. Despite the power of his courage and the resilience of those around him like his mentor Ousmane Sonko, the advantage his country offered him by way of strong institutions, an irrespressive civic culture fed by great political awareness and a vibrant opposition even in the face of mortal threats and intimidation speak to Senegal’s unflappable democratic credential which can hold its own against any on the continent.
Even during the most trying months and weeks before the polls when outgoing President Macky Sall attempted to cling onto power by latching onto a crisis between the constitutional court and the electoral commission to postpone the election, the flames of Senegalese democracy flickered fleetingly but eventually emerged from it holding firm and burning even brighter. Sall soon found himself under pressure from the constitutional council to abandon his unholy quest to prolong his stay in office. In the end the 62-year-old, Senegal’s president since 2012 budged and fast forward to April 2nd, he made way quietly for his young successor.
Sall had attracted cricitism for triggering the drama which nearly shook Senegalese democracry to its very foundations but partially redeemed himself by quickly facilitating a smooth and sometimes touching transfer of power to his successor who is under no illusions about the mammoth task ahead.
A tale of courage and resililence
One of the first with positive words for Senegal was President Adama Barrow while attending Faye’s investiture from neighbouring Gambia. He put out a statement on his Facebook page asserting that ”strong institutions in a democracy played a crucial role in upholding the decisions of the Senegalese people”.
The Gambian leader’s oblique reference was not only about the election of the new man in charge of Senegal but also about the brave decisions by the seven conscientous electoral judges who preempted the near-electoral crisis which predeced the vote.
Barrow, a close ally of Mr. Sall says he is ”excited to work with the new administration to maintain peace and strengthen our bilateral ties… while we are one and the same people” and thanks Faye’s predecessor for standing by The Gambia in the past when strongman politics outmuscled weak state institutions in the undemocratic quest to overturn his own election victory over now exiled former president Yahya Jammeh.
Macky Sall had been instrumental in mobilising regional as well as international support for Barrow’s installation as Gambia’s third president as Jammeh plunged the country into an electoral crisis by declaring the outcome of the 2016 presidential election null and void.
Thanks to Sall and other regional leaders, Jammeh was eventually forced to flee into exile and Mr Barrow installed as president.
Senegal’s tradition in democracy is a ‘luxury’ most fledgling democracies across Africa can only dream about in the face of weak institutions which are constantly overuled by leaders tightening their grip and using their security infrastructure to enforce retribution on any semblance of organised militancy against their otherwise unconstitutional power grab.
Continental wind of change?
But this is exactly what some of Africa’s teeming mass of young people constantly clamour for in their own countries – from Uganda, Ethiopia and Djibouti in the east, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and Benin in the west to Zimbabwe, South Africa and Malawi in southern Africa. While the movements for political change have morphed into various forms, the absence of strong institutions and the use of ‘strong arm politics’ has made them unable to grow from the flickering flames they are.
Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader Nelson Chamisa said ”this good politics from Senegal is unmatched” and shows that ”Africa is young at heart and outlook…this is the new Africa”.
Former South African finance minister Tito Mboweni said ”the winds of change are blowing throughout Africa where young people are leading. It’s time for eldership to sit down”.
Reacting to events in Senegal while contributing to a panel discussion on contemporary politics in West Africa, journalist and international affairs analyst Paul Ejime praised the fact that the vanquised found the heart to concede and deffused any residual tensions that might have outlived the immediate aftermath of the pre-election crisis. Ejime was in Senegal to monitor the polls and came away feeling that like most soap operas, the political drama in Senegal of the last few months teaches, inspires and exercise minds about what ought to be in other sister countries not resilient enough with their democratic traditions to provide such a fairytale ending which makes everyone happy.
He said unlike his native Nigeria where ethnicity is an unmistakable factor in politics, Senegal has demonstrated through the ballot box that relatively unknown upstarts far removed from the political mainstream can command the kind of popularity which can sweep aside with ease more established national patriarchs.
Fellow panelist Usman Sark, a former deputy permanent representative for Nigeria at the United Nations agreed, interrogating the decisive role civil societies played in safeguarding democratic processes ranging from guarding against circumventing electoral laws and disempowering the opposition.
He also praised the depth of political consciousness of the Senegalese voting populace which never lst sight of the bigger picture despite the smokescreens placed in their path by the incumbent desperate for his ruling coalition to enjoy an unfair advantage.
”Senegal was able to achieve the seamless transition due to the prevalence of respect for the rule of law, personal and professional integrity and strong institutions” he observed.
He said a tradition away from military coups has als helped both Senegal and neighbouring Cape Verde weather political storms which usually result in national armies intervening in politics and seizing power.
Young Ghanaian social media activist Ernest A. Antwi perhaps caught the mood of the average African youth by writing: ”The young people of the African continent are rising up to take their destinies in their own hands. How can a continent with more than half of her population youthful be ruled by 70 and 80 year olds?”
Maxamed Ciise Warsame, a Somali engineer put it bluntly that what Africa needs are more young leaders with the innate understanding of their peoples’ problems coupled with the willingness to tackle them.
The three panelists who were at the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) could only hope that countries with very dubious democratic traditions and others where military regimes are in place will take away positives from Senegalese democracy which has set new standards for the region and Africa as a whole.
Contributors Goddy Ikeh, Nigeria and Joseph Ngwawi Zimbabwe