By Mohamed Kamara (former correspondent)
Bassirou Diomagya Faye has been sown in as the winner of Senegal’s Presidential Elections on March 25, 2024.
Faye is the 5th President of Senegal since the country gained Independence from France in 1960.
Senegal is highly praised as the only country in the Sub-Region which has never experienced a military coup but only an uprising in the south of Senegal (Casdamance) which lasted for over two decades.
Unlike Sierra Leone and Guinea where ethnicity matters in the choice of Presidents, Senegal keeps going on the top with the ethnic group of its first President Leopard Sedar Senghor having produced four out of five Presidents since gaining independence.
Seneghor hails from the Serer ethnic group popularly believed to be very industrious and had originated in the central part of Senegal.
From Thies, Bambay, Dangalma, Fatile, Dioubral to elsewhere in Senegal, Serers are predominately farmers with a higher percentage of their children acquiring education now.
When Senghor relinquished power after 40 years of rule, his successor Abdul Diouf was equally a Serer.
Diouf ruled for two consecutive terms and was succeeded by Abdulai Wade, the only Wolof in the political history of Senegal to occupy the throne.
Abdulai Wade equally served as a minister in Senghor’s 40 years rule but resigned to form the People’s Democratic Party of Senegal (PDP).
Wade waited for 26 years before he won the elections against Abdou Diouf in subsequent years.
Wade is a lawyer and economist by profession. He successfully changed the constitution and introduced the SENATE House.
He ruled for two consecutive terms and was succeeded by Macky Sall.
Also Sall and Turcolor were his onetime Minister of Energy, Prime Minister, Campaign Manager and Speaker who fell apart with their former boss. Macky Sall equally formed his own party and won Wade in a coalition with other minority political parties.
He ruled for 12 years.
In March 2024, another Serer Faya has won the Presidential race.
Most of the popular politicians of a decade ago in the name of Mustapha Niess, Djibo Ka, Idrissa Sack have either retired from politics or age has signaled them a goodbye. Despite their ethnic differences, Senegal is the only country perhaps where peace and national cohesion comes first before politics.