“We don’t need autonomy. We are a unitary country! »

Entitled “The idea of ​​autonomous Casamance – Moral possibilities and debts of the colonial situation in Senegal”, the work by Séverine Awenengo Dalberto has caused controversy in recent days in Senegal.
Thus, Ousmane Sonko had the opportunity to publicly address the subject of the relevance of the book yesterday, during a meeting in southern Senegal.

According to the head of the Pastef list, “if France wants to write, it only has to write about Corsica which claims its independence from France. It is enough for her to write about New Caledonia which claims its independence, but she does not have to write about Senegal.” Ousmane Sonko wants to be clear: “I don’t know what is behind this affair. Because France had testified in the 90s with Jacques Charpy to clarify the question of the total and integral partnership of Casamance with Senegal. Now that there is a regime, as I have always said, we are not anti-French, but simply pro-Senegal, a regime which says it wants our sovereignty. And so, we will no longer accept being devalued by anyone. She gives us a book, and as she cannot go back on her testimony, she can no longer claim her independence, it is the notion of autonomy that we are talking about! We don’t want autonomy! » argues Ousmane Sonko, warning France.

This, according to the leader of Pastef, is not the question. But in Senegal, it is about unity: “We are a unitary state. From north to south, from east to west, the same realities will apply to each portion of the national territory. And this book will not be authorized in Senegal, it will not be marketed in Senegal, because we will not accept a destabilization project to come and talk to us about what concerns us, we Senegalese. If France wants to give us archives, it can only give us the archives of its summary executions in Senegal during colonization, the tortures it carried out, the forced labor, this is what we expect from France . Let her give us the archives of Thiaroye 44, but not archives on the so-called autonomy of Casamance,” complains Ousmane Sonko.