This is a serious error on his part as a Senegalese politician. What he should have said was: “They are Senegalese of Guinean origin,” because a Guinean cannot be considered a Senegalese in terms of civil status, in terms of identity document or voter card.
However, several hundred thousand foreigners, i.e. people with cross-border names (such as Diallo, Ba, Mendy, Sissokho, Ouattara, Diakhate, Barry, etc.), living in border regions such as Tambacounda, Ziguinchor, and Kolda are at the origin of this phenomenon. Indeed, many benefited from false birth certificates which were recorded in civil status files in order to be registered on the electoral lists and obtain a voter card, which allows them to vote for those who facilitated these procedures.
It is estimated that at least 100,000 people of Guinean origin hold a Senegalese voter card, a situation which has persisted for a long time, having started under the Diouf regime, then continued under Wade and Macky Sall. This phenomenon is ignored by many Senegalese and politicians, often for political reasons.
It is in this context that the president of the Pastef party, Ousmane Sonko, issued a warning by declaring: “Do not vote during this election, because you are not Senegalese.” A message that many seem not to understand, but that some remember, and experts know who it is aimed at. This involves denouncing false identity and voter cards, because the birth certificates used are fake, which do not appear in the civil status registers concerned.
Coming from Guinea Conakry or elsewhere, these people would be accomplices of the state system, which carried out these registrations in exchange for housing or other privileges, as Abdoulaye Sylla promised to the Guinean community living in Senegal . The latter offered land with an estimated value of more than one billion CFA francs.
Aware today of this phenomenon, what solution do you recommend to guarantee the integrity of the electorate in the future? What should be the role of the new government in this situation? Can we still talk about “internal sovereignty” before resolving this problem? Thousands of questions surrounding this phenomenon occupy the minds of the Senegalese.
Serigne Saliou Seck atltanticactu
