#FreeSenegal - Education- Reform- Reconciliation

 Hello Hello

I have not blogged since April 27th, and I am sorry about it. I did plan to post something for May but life...happened. 

Since the last time I blogged, I got increasingly busy at work, I tried to revive my business, socialized a tiny bit, and help my first born prepare for his exams. However, my life came to a stop a few weeks back. Whether you are aware or not, my country Senegal has been experiencing political unrest in the past weeks. It started two years ago. I think I did blog about it here. But just as an update, know that the main opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko, that was accused of rape has finally been found guilty of corrupting the youth. He is sentenced to 2 years in jail, which would make him ineligible to be a presidential candidate for February 2024. Before the verdict, he had been apprehended by law enforcement and was on house arrest in his residence because he refused to attend the trials but also because he has called for insurrection. What happened after the verdict was announced exactly a week ago, was a series of protests, mostly violent which led to the death of 30 people (not confirmed), several injured and missing, many more arrested, damages on public and private property (university buildings and buses burnt, banks and supermarkets looted, bus and train stops destroyed, politicians’ houses, and cars burnt) and the Internet being restricted. 

A week after, I have not heard of any unrest anywhere in the country. Internet is fully back on. It is back to business as usual in my city. Yesterday I went out in town after being confined home for an entire week. People were back at work, there was even traffic jams. The markets were filled, the banks had long queues. If I did not see the heavy presence of police and the military, I would not have believed that just a few days back, we had chaos. Life goes on as they say.

So far, the opposition leader, is still being confined to his home. He has not been officially arrested. The perimeter around his house, is under heavy guard by the police, no one can enter or leave without permission. The President Macky Sall has not uttered a single word about the recent chaos, preferring to address the situation in Ukraine and Russia. However, he has been seen discussing with one of the main religious figures in the country. One of the main opposition groups will organise a protest this coming Friday and Saturday. We are back to living but not seeing an issue to this situation. 

My country has always been considered as a beacon of democracy in a continent riddled with Coups and political unrest. As a matter of fact, all our neighbours had experienced several military coups in the past and are still considered countries at risk. Yet, Senegal has always been considered peaceful and respectful of basic human rights. We were always the voice of reason, even participated in resolving international conflicts. Unfortunately, these recent years, the government has been repressing our basic rights, jailing politicians, journalists, activists for either telling the truth or just for opposing their decisions.  Many Senegalese even believe that the rape trial was just another political plot by the President to prevent yet another opposition leader from being a presidential candidate. After all, the other two main opposition leaders before him, Karim Wade and Khalifa Sall, have been jailed and to this day are not eligible to become presidential candidates. It is hard not to believe it when we see the current climate. The President has not come forward to say whether he will seek a third term. He has been very ambiguous about the entire situation for a long time now so much so that everyone believes he will. 

Student leaving Dakar university after it was closed due to violent protests. 

And when it comes to the Police, we have seen them repressing the population, not hesitating to take children as human shields, batter and even shoot real bullets at civilians. On top of that, they have embarked on a campaign to discredit the protestors by doing a press conference showing individuals with machine guns and other firearms. However, thanks to people with mobile phones who dared to film the recent events, the general population is aware that most of those people with guns were working hand in hand with the police.  

That is what is happening currently. 

I am happy that I am safe and my family and loved ones as well. I am also happy that life seems to go back to normal. However, what the recent events has demonstrated is that we live in a country where it is unsafe to even share your opinion. I am not even talking about the repression that might come from our own government. I am talking about the attacks you may receive if you dare show a different opinion from the norm, which is heavily anti-government. Two years ago, I was verbally attacked by someone I considered a friend because I wanted to believe the woman who accused Ousmane Sonko of rape. I eventually did forgive her but whenever I think of that day I am sadden. I am afraid to even tweet what I think, and I am usually very vocal on that space. There is this common mentality that if you are not with the majority, then you must be against it. No one is allowed to stay neutral in this country. 

I am not even neutral. I always tell people that neither the President nor the main opposition leader pays my bills, got me the job I work at, the house I live in or the food I eat. Yes, the decisions they take may affect me, as the recent events have shown. At the end of the day, I rely on me, myself and I (and obviously the help of my family) to survive and thrive in this country. As much I want to be an ostrich, and hide from this, I can't. I am involved whether I want it or not. But I made a choice. The choice is that I refuse to be manipulated into hating and fearing my neighbour, wishing ill upon him, or even stoop to burning and looting him just because a politician said so. I refuse to believe all the propaganda on both sides. Why is that? I have seen what politics does to people and countries. I have learned it at school, and I have lived it. I am always suspicious of someone who wants to be president by all cost, someone who believes he is the solution to all problems. I am also suspicious of someone whose actions had proven that he does not care for his people. I cannot root for someone who has power and decided to use it to repress instead of helping. I wished there was someone I could trust in the pool of politicians I see but sadly there is none. That is how I see things. 

Back to business

Unfortunately, these are the politicians we have because that is how we are as a country. We believe in repression. We hit our children for doing something wrong or talking back to us. We beat thieves up instead of handing them over to the police. We are (verbally) abusive towards people we consider inferior. We believe in violence and are shocked when violence is thrown back at us. We do not want corruption, but we bribe the administration to facilitate our requests or policemen on the streets to avoid paying traffic tickets. We do not even have patience to queue like another else. Instead, we use our small influence to go first. To top it all, we blame others for our own problems. 

Often, when I am asked what the solutions to this political unrest would be, I shrug. People speculate that for the crisis to end, the current president must either resign or publicly announce that he won't seek a third term, free all the political prisoners of the past years, the protestors included, pardon all opposition leaders found guilty of crime. People hope that they will be able to elect the person they want and get rid of this so-called authoritarian regime. They aspire for change. Sadly I do not think that voting for the main opposition leader will change things. 

What would change things are education, reform, and reconciliation.  

Educate this new generation of what it means to be a citizen in this country, educate them of their rights but also of their duties. Teach them their history and the history of the world, teach them the virtues of serving before demanding. 

Reform of the entire governing system is needed. No absolute power should be given to a president or a political party. The constitution must change as well to accommodate those reforms. We must apply the real separation of the ruling entities: executive, judiciary and parliamentary. We also need a reform of the police. The policemen need to go into sensitivity trainings to learn that they role is not to repress but to protect, they are not here to bully us but to serve us. 

But before we get to that, we must reconciliate Senegalese between them. We have been divided not only by our politicians but by ourselves, stooping so low as to blame ethnicity for our current problems. We must find a way to get back to love and forgiveness. Yet this current government must answer for all its crimes. It should not be a witch hunt, but a unbiased investigation of what happened. The truth must come out of this for people to truly heal and move on. 

That is what I advocate. 

But I am just a normal citizen. Who is going to listen to me? 

*Images are not mine. If you want to see more (troubling) images and videos of the protests, you can follow the #freeSenegal on Instagram and Twitter, or google Senegal)