Dakar, September 27 (APS) – Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko expressed, Friday, the commitment of the Senegalese government to complete the process of total and integral pacification of the natural region of Casamance located in the southern part of Senegal .
”Significant and laudable progress in the restoration of peace has been made in recent years, it now remains to complete the process of total and definitive pacification of this natural region with infinite potential,” he underlined in his general policy declaration made to the National Assembly.
The natural region of Casamance made up of the regions of Ziguinchor, Kolda and Sédhiou has long lived in a certain instability due to a conflict opposing the State to armed insurgents claiming to be from the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC).
The movement demanding the independence of this region was almost militarily defeated by the Senegalese army, which completed the destruction of the movement’s most important bases and fortifications through sweeping and security operations leading in some places to the return of people. displaced.
”Social equity cannot be discussed without giving absolute priority to the return of those displaced by the conflict in Casamance,” explained the head of government, recalling that the prospect of a just, prosperous and sovereign Senegal came first. by a country pacified in its integrity and a people more reconciled than ever.
”Since April 2, 2024, not a day has passed without my action and my thoughts being turned towards Casamance. This part of the national territory which has been scarred for 42 years, by the violence born from the tangle of misunderstandings, manipulations of all kinds,” assured Ousmane Sonko.
He indicated that the government, under the guidance of the President of the Republic, is committed and works daily with openness towards the pacification of Casamance in firmness with regard to the principles of national unity.
According to the Prime Minister, one of the first measures taken by the government on this issue was to hold an Interministerial Council dedicated to the return of displaced people to their villages.
This council dedicates “the ambitious Diomaye Special Plan for Casamance 2024-2025”, with a provisional cost of 54 billion FCFA, commented Mr. Sonko.
He recalled that the plan should result in the strengthening of the institutional and budgetary capacities of the National Agency for the Relaunch of Economic Activities in Casamance (ANRAC), responsible for coordinating the execution of the interventions of the special plan and the mobilization of financing demining operations with an estimated cost of 15 billion FCFA.
The plan will make it possible to make priority use of very small, small and medium-sized businesses and local labor in the conduct of government projects or supported by the State, and to create local expertise for the maintenance and maintenance of infrastructure. , materials and equipment, he stressed.
The implementation of the plan will make it possible to establish a suitable system for supporting displaced people, to ensure the employability and employment of young people and women, by creating the conditions for the continued development of local expertise for the “upkeep and maintenance of infrastructure, materials and equipment,” Ousmane Sonko said.
AKS/ASB