On Thursday, December 14, 2023, the Dakar court ordered the reregistration of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko on the electoral roll to allow him to run for president of Senegal next February. The ruling confirms the judgment rendered in October in the southern town of Ziguinchor, which was overturned by the Supreme Court the following month. Supporters of Sonko who attended the trial, chanted his name after the verdict. Popular with the Senegalese unemployed youth, Sonko has been at the center of deadly demonstrations against the government in the last two years. The anti-France, Pan-African firebrand was taken off the electoral list in June after being sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for “corrupting the youth.” Twenty-year-old massage parlor employee Adji Sarr accused Sonko of rape and communicating threats in 2021. Sonko believes the case was a part of a plot to keep him from running for president. Sonko posted on X from his prison cell, “Honors to my dedicated, brilliant, selfless, and loyal advocates! Infinite gratitude to this wonderful Senegalese people! Thanks to all our African and foreign supporters! May peace and divine blessing flood our country.” Sonko has been in custody since July on charges of insurrection, conspiracy against the state, and other crimes. In connection with the charges, Sonko’s political party African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics, and Fraternity (PASTEF) was dissolved by the government. Sonko was fired from his job as tax inspector in 2016 after 15 years of service when he exposed offshore tax havens used by a Canadian company to avoid paying $8.9 million in taxes. Sonko served as a member of the National Assembly between 2017 and 2022. He ran as president against incumbent Macky Sall in 2019, placing third. After his second term as president, Sall will be ineligible to run again in February.
