Dakar, Dec 18 (APS) – Teacher-researcher Mouhamadou Moustapha Sow, member of the international research group on Léopold Sédar Senghor, underlined, Tuesday, the importance of promoting the archive funds kept at the Socialist Party house (PS) in Dakar, which constitute, according to him, “a real treasure” for scientific research on the contemporary history of Senegal.
”The headquarters of the Socialist Party is one of the rare archive repositories where we can consult archives which date back to the 1962 period (…). This is why we believe that the archives of the Léopold Sédar Senghor house constitute a real treasure for scientific research,” said Mr. Sow, professor and researcher in the history department of Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar. .
He spoke during a presentation ceremony of the Senghor Fund, organized by the international research group Léopold Sédar Senghor, at the headquarters of the Socialist Party, in the presence of the leaders of this political group.
Mr. Sow believes that the richness of these archives lies in the fact that beyond the history of the PS, they touch on all sectors of political, economic and social life in Senegal.
The Senghor group, whose objective is to revisit the different facets of the president-poet, ”is the world reference group for research on the heritage of the president-poet,” said the Senegalese historian.
”For two years, we have been following in Senghor’s footsteps. We are looking for what he produced and what is written about him,” he underlined, welcoming the many positive returns they receive all over the world regarding the immensity of the work. of Senghor, first president of Senegal from 1960 to 1981.
According to him, it is important to create synergy and commit to preserving the heritage archives of Senghor, which constitute a documentary heritage of Senegal to make it accessible in order to be able to promote it.
”We support all institutions that keep Senghor’s archives to promote them,” he said, referring to the group’s financial efforts for the digitization of Senghor’s archives.
Mouhamadou Moustapha Sow also called on the dignitaries of the Socialist Party and all people with archives concerning Léopold Sédar Senghor to make them available, to facilitate the work of popularizing the work of the former President of the Republic of Senegal.
”It is important today to launch an appeal to the deans and to the families of former dignitaries of the Socialist Party, if they have archives to make them available to the group, so that we can digitize for conservation and valorization,” he argued.
Several Socialist Party officials took part in the ceremony, including the mayor of the Dakar Plateau commune, Alioune Ndoye, former Minister of Fisheries and head of the Party School.
Speaking on behalf of the general secretary of the PS, Mr. Ndoye congratulated the Senghor group regarding the popularization of the heritage of the president-poet.
He assures that the archives of the Socialist Party house will always be available to the group if necessary.
”We will appeal to dignitaries, their families or other actors with Senghor’s archives to hand them over to the group for the conservation and popularization effort,” he said.
He also stressed the importance of amplifying this work so that young Senegalese can know “how this country was built”.
Alioune Ndoye also invites the group to take a greater interest in the crucial role played by Léopold Sédar Senghor in activism for the liberation of Africa and the emancipation of black people.
Bounama Sall, head of youth for the Socialist Party, is offering open days to allow visitors to visit the archives with a view to encouraging young people to take ownership and discover the immensity of the heritage of the former President of the Republic ( 1906-2001).
TAB/FKS/ASB/ASG
