Newly sworn-in Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has formally appointed opposition leader Ousmane Sonko the country’s new prime minister.
Faye, 44, made the announcement early on Wednesday, appointing his close ally who was barred from contesting in the last election by Former President Macky Sall. However, he enjoys the support of young Senegalese.
Sonko, 49, has a reputation as a corruption fighter, a critic of the country’s elites, a pan-Africanist and a conservative Muslim.
As earlier stated, he was prevented from running for the presidency at the end of March after being handed a six-month suspended sentence for libelling a minister he had accused of corruption.
He was also handed a two-year prison sentence after he was charged of abusing a 20-year-old woman.
Faye, the new sheriff in town was held in custody himself for 11 months on account of a Facebook posting in which he expressed criticism of the country’s legal establishment.
Mass demonstrations and riots erupted across the nation in response as they had previously to Sonko’s arrest in 2021.
Sonko and Faye were both released from prison 10 days to the presidential elections before completing a dramatic ascent from prison to palace within weeks.
Faye, one of Africa’s youngest presidents, was elected more than a week ago with 54.28 per cent of the vote in the West African country.
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