Casamance, a region hit by armed conflict for four decades, has always focused the attentions of the different regimes which have made it a priority, notwithstanding the methods used to resolve the conflicts. The development of this southern part of the country has always been an imperative for the different authorities who have succeeded one another at the head of the executive. The Diomaye Plan for Casamance is certainly a new, perhaps saving plan for development for the region in question, but development plans and programs for Casamance remain a tradition for the regimes that have ruled Senegal.
Faced with the spiral of violence that Casamance experienced in the early 1980s, President Abdou Diouf attempted to develop so-called constructive strategies to “put out the fire” and pacify the region. However, these development initiatives have been made complex and difficult by the increase in armed violence. One of his emissaries, his Prime Minister Mamadou Lamine Loum sent to Ziguinchor, had discussed, during a special CRD (Regional Development Council) held at the old Ziguinchor town hall, the question of this Casamance crisis. President Diouf and his regime had taken steps to pacify the region which continued to resonate with the crackling of weapons.
Efforts to revive economic activities in Casamance remain in fact a difficult challenge for the different regimes. President Abdoulaye Wade launched the Casamance Social and Economic Activities Recovery Program (PRAESC). For him, the idea was to help fighters who agreed to lay down their arms. “Casamance had a development problem,” he said. This paradigm shift sparked a wave of criticism. Some accused him of putting a premium on rebellion. President Wade and his regime focused a lot on development and financing for the return of displaced people.
A process that President Macky Sall will try to boost, who was faced with both funding and aid for the return of displaced people. But faced with the radical position of rebel leader Salif Sadio, Macky Sall’s regime managed to convince certain members of a faction of the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (Mfdc) to lay down their arms. The process initiated resulted in operations to incinerate the weapons of certain fighters of the rebel movement.
President Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye is launching the Diomaye Plan for Casamance: a “strategy” which arouses great hope among the populations of the south. A Plan facing the challenge of an economy which has collapsed in the southern part of the country. Today, it is no longer a question of calm and signed agreements. It is a new dynamic which has been initiated by President Bassirou Diomaye Faye who should, faced with the definitive establishment of peace in Casamance, tackle a major factor which remains the care of displaced and wandering populations. In truth, this plan is only a prescription for the resolution of the multiple challenges in this southern part of the country. This will involve dynamically developing road infrastructure to remove areas from their isolation. What’s more, many schools are in a deplorable state, and there is a need to broaden the base of schooling offerings in certain areas of the region. We must also create the conditions for a successful return by providing good housing, basic infrastructure and decent conditions for these displaced populations to return to their villages. The question of decontamination of certain areas also remains an emergency. In short, it is a question of a battery of support measures for this Diomaye Plan for Casamance which addresses the post-conflict situation. After Presidents Abdou Diouf and Macky Sall with his PPDC, President Abdoulaye Wade and his PAESC and other ANRAC, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye intends with his Diomaye plan for Casamance to launch the development ramps of this southern part of the country from where has been floating for some time, which certainly smells the scent of peace through this lull but which awaits the realization of acts to change its face.
As a reminder, Tuesday evening, during his speech to the Nation on the occasion of the New Year, the Head of State, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, indicated that one of his priorities remains definitive peace in Casamance. “There cannot be real progress without lasting peace…It is an imperative to allow all development projects, supported by Vision Senegal 2050 in the South Economic Pole, to see the light of day. With this in mind, I initiated the Diomaye Plan for Casamance (Pdc), in order to support the return of displaced populations and support the peace process in Casamance.”
