This year, the Bakel department was the scene of exceptional flooding of the Senegal River and its main tributary, the Falémé. Indeed, these rivers reached record levels of overflow, causing floods which affected no less than 55,600 people, including 1,500 local producers.
The floods, which occurred between August and September, particularly affected crops in the villages of Ballou, Aroundou, Koughany, Golmy and Yaféra. As a result, a vast area of 1,002 hectares of agricultural land was submerged, putting the livelihood of people in the area at risk.
Faced with this critical situation, the Minister of the Interior and Public Security, Jean-Baptiste Tine, accompanied by Maïmouna Dièye, Minister of Family and Solidarity, traveled to the site to assess the extent of the damage. A few days later, the President of the Republic, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, also visited the affected areas to provide his support. “I want to tell the victims of this rather difficult situation that we are at their side. We think of them, we act to bring them the necessary comfort on all levels,” he declared to the affected people. These statements were reported by the Senegalese Press Agency (APS).
On the sidelines of these dramatic events, the department of Bakel nevertheless received a positive signal in August. The Departmental Council was honored with the local leadership excellence prize awarded by the International Observatory of Participatory Democracy (OIDP), in recognition of its “effectiveness [et de son] budgetary efficiency”, a distinction also relayed by the APS.
The year 2024 also marked an administrative change in the department with the arrival of a new prefect. Daouda Sène, former deputy governor of Tambacounda in charge of administrative affairs, was appointed 31st prefect of Bakel, succeeding Amadou Salmone Fall, who became chief of staff of the Minister of Hydraulics and Sanitation.
