A New Political Generation is Pushing Senegal Forward

By: Isabon Thamm

March 5, 2013

Coming to Senegal, one is immediately confronted by all the false perceptions garnered in the United States about the African continent. A land mass comprised of about 55 different countries (depending on how you tally) and a cultural and geographic diversity just as large, African nations continue to receive the brunt of many negative reputations and overgeneralizations, especially when it comes to poor governance and lack of stability.

Of all the countries on the continent, Senegal remains one of the few that has not seen a coup d’état since its independence in 1960, and it continues to exist as a model of political stability on the continent with a penchant for democracy—if upholding the democratic platform is to be considered the ideal form of good governance.

Very politically active, Senegal’s citizens pride themselves in voicing their varied opinions about their government. In 2000, Abdoulaye Wade came to power with many promises of change. Unfortunately, this hope for change meant that after two full terms in office, and little change of consequence, Wade’s wish to continue on for a third term was met with uproar; thus began the fight for the Senegalese presidency in 2012.

A few weeks ago, the director of the CIEE program in Dakar called on members of Y’en a Marre to hold a lecture at the center. In January 2011, Y’en a Marre (“We’ve had enough” in French) had emerged as a non-violent activist group frustrated with the Wade regime and would prove a crucial part of the outcome of the race one year later. Comprised of Senegalese citizens from all walks of life, the leaders of the group were primarily those who could most easily and most eloquently spread their ideals: the musicians, rappers, and poets of the nation.

As the race began to heat up, so did the Y’en a Marre movement. The citizens of Senegal were called to “sharpen their blades” (daas fananal) and register to vote; in follow up, they were called on to pick up their registration cards. Flash poetry slams were held, and caravans of loudspeaker laden taxis took trips across the nation in order to spread the word. After countless other campaigns, the chants of Y’en a Marre finally paid off; and in early 2012, Macky Sall became the new president after a second run-off election.

With the era of a new president and hope for change, one would think that a political movement such as this would fall to the wayside, becoming obsolete. Macky Sall, at least, saw no use for the group post-election; and so called on the leaders of Y’en a Marre to thank them for their work, and to offer them prestigious positions within the government and abroad. They would not be fooled, however, into thinking that the fight was over and thus began their continued efforts to ameliorate their nation.

In the past year, new programs have been launched to beautify and clean up such areas as the VDN (main traffic artery of Dakar), stop the importation of French and American chickens into Senegal (who have plenty of their own healthy fowl to go around), and render the Chinese-run foundry back to the Senegalese. The two latter have proved a success with parliamentary backing, while the former continues to be blocked by the heads of state who wish to honor their contract with, and paycheck from, Total who wishes to build two gas stations along the route.

Oftentimes political campaigns rile up the nation in times of need, but few ever succeed in following through to fruition. In a world where countries founded on hundreds of years of democratic tradition find follow-through difficult (i.e. Occupy), a ray of hope streaks through the African quagmire. Yes, “Wade 2012” graffiti will implore passers-by unceasingly for years to come, but the grassroots movement that so many outsiders have been hoping for has arrived, at least to this niche of the continent, with a new generation willing to lead its nation forward and into a brighter future.

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