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Faye: 15 Things To Know About 44-year-old Senegal’s President

Published

2 years ago

March 26, 2024

Editor

Bassirou Diomaye Faye has emerged as Senegal’s President-elect after an unprecedented victory at the presidential election on Sunday, March 24, 2024.

Provisional results showed the opposition candidate, Faye had about 53.7%, while former Prime Minister and ruling coalition’s candidate, Amadou Ba, secured 36.2% based on tallies from 90% of polling stations in the first-round vote, according to the electoral commission.

Giving his first acceptance speech, Faye said, “In electing me, the Senegalese people have decided on a break with a past. I promise to govern with humility and transparency.”

Both incumbent President Macky Sall and his anointed candidate, Ba have congratulated Faye.

Faye, the 44-year-old politician is set to become the fifth President of Senegal on April 2, 2024, when he will be sworn in.

Here are 15 amazing things to know about Faye:

1. Faye was born on 25 March 1980 in Ndiaganiao in the western department of M’Bour, Thies, Senegal.

2. He was the former General-Secretary of the dissolved political party, PASTEF, (Patriotes africains du Sénégal pour le travail, l’éthique et la fraternité), meaning the African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity, founded in 2014 by Ousmane Sonko.

3. In 2000, Faye earned his baccalaureate and successfully attained a master’s degree in law and subsequently cleared both competitive exams, enrolling at the National School of Administration (ENA) and the magistracy in 2004.

4. After graduation, he became a tax inspector in the Tax and Estates department, where he met Sonko, a fellow alum from the same school.

5. Faye and Sonko‘s friendship grew closer in 2014, in the Taxes and Estates Union, created by Sonko, and at this time, Faye campaigned to facilitate homeownership for tax and property agents.

6. Sonko, PASTEF leader and Senegal’s main opposition leader endorsed Faye as a presidential candidate in November 2023, following uncertainty over the possibility of Sonko contesting, despite the dissolution of PASTEF several months earlier.

7. Faye spent more than 11 months in prison for a Facebook post that authorities deemed subversive, and regained freedom just 10 days before the presidential election, and still won.

8. Following his endorsement by Sonko, on 15 March 2024, a day after his release from jail, Faye gathered hundreds of supporters at his first public appearance as a presidential contender.

9. Former President Abdoulaye Wade and his Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS) endorsed Faye on the same day, in a boost to his chances of winning the election.

10. During the presidential campaign, Faye promised to create jobs, campaigned strongly against corruption, and vowed to reexamine energy contracts, running under the slogan “Diomaye mooy Ousmane”, which means “Diomaye is Ousmane” in Wolof, as he hoped Sonko’s charisma and popular would appeal to Senegal’s youth for his victory at the pools.

11. He was one of Sonko’s trusted allies and personal friends and also became popular with Senegalese youths who desired a breakaway from Sall’s government.

12. On April 14, 2023, Faye was apprehended as he exited his tax and property office on Rue de Thiong in Dakar, and was consequently placed under police custody for charges including “spreading false news, contempt of court, and defamation of a constituted body” following a social media post he made.

14. When Faye, Sonko, and others were released from prison by incumbent President Macky Sall on 14 March, days before the election, Faye began campaigns including vows to fight the “French economic stranglehold” over Senegal.

15. Faye is a tax inspector and lawyer by profession, and has two wives – Marie Khone and Absa, with four children.
VANGUARD

Headline

Africa Coups: 10 In Five Years

Published

20 hours ago

December 7, 2025

Editor

A military coup attempt in Benin Sunday adds to a list of such incidents on the turbulent African continent.
A group of soldiers announced that they had ousted President Patrice Talon, although his entourage said he was safe and the army was regaining control.

Here is a recap of the 10 successful coups in Africa in the last five years:

Mali

Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita is overthrown by five army colonels in August 2020.

In May 2021, the Malian military takes over from the civilian leaders of an interim government.
Colonel Assimi Goita, who led both coups, is sworn in as transitional president.

After promising to hold elections in February 2024, the military puts them off indefinitely, pointing to the jihadist violence plaguing the country.

In July 2025, Goita approves a law granting himself a five-year presidential mandate, renewable without election.
In September jihadists launch a fuel blockade, weakening the ruling junta.

Guinea

On September 5, 2021, mutinous troops led by lieutenant-colonel Mamady Doumbouya take over in Guinea, arresting President Alpha Conde.

Doumbouya in early November 2025 submits his candidacy ahead of December 28 elections that are meant to restore constitutional order.

Sudan

After weeks of tension between the military and civilian leaders who had shared power since the ousting of dictator Omar al-Bashir, the armed forces led by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan stage a new coup on October 25, 2021.

Since April 2023 war has raged between the regular armed forces led by Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, led by his former deputy Mohammed Hamdan Daglo.

The conflict has so far killed tens of thousands of people and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso underwent two military coups in 2022.

In January that year mutinous soldiers led by Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba arrest President Roch Marc Christian Kabore.

Then in September army officers announce they have dismissed Damiba. Captain Ibrahim Traore becomes transitional president, but elections he promised do not materialise. In May 2024 the junta authorises him to stay for another five years in a country wracked by Islamist violence.

Niger

On July 26, 2023, members of the presidential guard overthrow Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum, elected in 2021. General Abdourahamane Tiani, head of the presidential guard, takes over.

In March 2025, the junta extends by at least five years its transitional leadership of the country which is plagued by jihadist violence.

Gabon

In Gabon, ruled for 55 years by the Bongo family, army officers on August 30, 2023 overthrow President Ali Bongo Ondimba, less than an hour after he is declared winner of an election the opposition says was fraudulent.
General Brice Oligui Nguema is named transitional president.

In April 2025 he is elected president with 94.85 percent of the vote. He is sworn in on the basis of a new constitution approved by referendum during the transition.

Madagascar

In October 2025, the military ousts Madagascar’s president Andry Rajoelina and takes power following weeks of “Gen Z” anti-government protests.

Army colonel Michael Randrianirina is sworn in as Madagascar’s new president, promising elections within 18 to 24 months.

Guinea-Bissau

In November 2025, military officers in Guinea-Bissau declare they have “total control” of the coup-prone west African country, closing its borders and suspending its electoral process three days after general elections.

The military says a command “composed of all branches of the armed forces” is taking over the leadership of the country “until further notice”.

Headline

Benin Republic Presidency Breaks Silence On ‘Military Takeover’

Published

1 day ago

December 7, 2025

Editor

Benin Republic military
Military personnel in Benin on Sunday said they had ousted President Patrice Talon, but the Presidency said he was safe and the army was regaining control.

Talon, 67, a former businessman known as the “cotton king of Cotonou,” is due to hand over power in April next year after 10 years in office marked by strong economic growth and rising jihadist violence.

West Africa has seen several coups in recent years, including in Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea, and most recently Guinea-Bissau.

Early on Sunday, soldiers calling themselves the “Military Committee for Refoundation” (CMR) said on state television that they had met and decided that “Mr Patrice Talon is removed from office as president of the republic.”

The signal was cut later in the morning.

Shortly after the announcement, a source close to Talon told AFP the president was safe.

“This is a small group of people who only control the television. The regular army is regaining control. The city (Cotonou) and the country are completely secure,” they said.

“It’s just a matter of time before everything returns to normal. The clean-up is progressing well.”

A military source confirmed the situation was “under control” and said the coup plotters had not taken Talon’s residence or the presidential offices.

The French Embassy reported on X that “gunfire was reported at Camp Guezo” near the president’s official residence in the economic capital and urged French citizens to remain indoors.

Benin has a history of coups and attempted coups.

Talon, who came to power in 2016, is due to end his second term in 2026, the constitutional maximum.

The main opposition party has been excluded from the race to succeed him, leaving the ruling party to compete against a so-called “moderate” opposition.

Talon has been praised for driving economic development but is often accused of authoritarianism.

(AFP)

Headline

JUST IN: Soldiers Announce Military Takeover Of Govt In Benin Republic

Published

1 day ago

December 7, 2025

Editor

A group of soldiers appeared on Benin’s state television on Sunday to announce the dissolution of the government in what is being described as an apparent coup, marking yet another power seizure in West Africa.

Identifying themselves as the Military Committee for Refoundation, the soldiers declared the removal of the president and all state institutions.

President Patrice Talon, who has been in office since 2016, was scheduled to leave office next April after the presidential election. His party’s preferred candidate, former Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni, had been widely viewed as the frontrunner. Opposition candidate Renaud Agbodjo was disqualified by the electoral commission on the grounds that he did not have “sufficient sponsors.”

The takeover comes a month after Benin’s legislature extended the presidential term from five to seven years while retaining the two-term limit.

(AFP)