In Senegal, the government distances itself from a minister who described the riflemen as “traitors”

The Senegalese government is “totally out of phase” with the minister having described the Senegalese riflemen as “traitors”said his spokesperson on Thursday, December 26. These comments caused an outcry in the country. Minister responsible for administration and equipment at the Presidency of the Republic, Cheikh Oumar Diagne affirmed, in an interview on local television Fafa TV broadcast on December 21, that “those who celebrate the riflemen do not know what they are” in reality these colonial soldiers. “The riflemen are traitors who fought against their brothers, in their country, for money” during revolts or anti-colonial wars in Africa, Mr. Diagne estimated.

“This exit is very unfortunate. I am completely out of step with what Mr. Diagne said. I consider that these riflemen are heroes of the nation”declared Moustapha Njekk Sarré, government spokesperson, on Thursday on private radio RFM. According to him, Cheikh Oumar Diagne “made a big mistake” et “these riflemen cannot be considered traitors”. And to wonder why Mr. Diagne “rowed against the tide” on the riflemen while“no more than a month ago, the President of the Republic [Bassirou Diomaye Faye] organized a grand ceremony in their honor ».

Senegal commemorated this year on an unprecedented scale the events of 1^is December 1944 at the Thiaroye military camp, near Dakar. French colonial forces then fired on riflemen repatriated from fighting in Europe, not only Senegalese but also from other African countries, who were demanding payment of arrears of pay. Many gray areas remain regarding the circumstances of the tragedy, the number of riflemen killed, their identity and the place of their burial. The French authorities at the time admitted the deaths of 35 people, but several historians put forward a much higher number of victims, up to 400.