Bassirou Diomaye Faye: From Prisoner to President
Written by Obwoge Joseph on March 26, 2024
Loyalty, eyes on the target and persistently pushing on has been the guide of Senegal president elect Bassirou Diomaye Faye.
1. Rising from relative anonymity to become Senegal’s president.
2. Spent time in prison before his political ascent.
3. Served as secretary general and demonstrated leadership within the Pastef party.
4. Started as a tax inspector, showcasing his professional background.
5. Obtained a master’s degree in law from Cheikh Anta Diop University.
6. Entered public service after passing the entrance exam for Senegal’s National School of Administration.
7. Faced legal hurdles, including accusations of contempt of court and defamation.
8. Actively participated in political activities and advocacy.
9. Engaged in campaigning, both as a candidate and supporting his party’s objectives.
10. Relied on a network of supporters, coalition partners, and party members throughout his journey.
After being sworn in President Faye
1. Will the youngest candidate to be democratically elected in Africa on the first instance of running for office, in decades.
2. Will become Africa’s youngest president at 44 years old.
3. Will be the 5th Africa’s Youngest Presidents in Practice after;
a. Ibrahim Traoré, President of Burkina Faso, 36 years old
b. Chadian President Mahamat Déby, 39 years old
c. Assimi Goita, Mali, 41 years old
d. Mamady Doumbouya, Guinea, 44 years old
During African Union’s (AU) high-level Heads of State meetings he will be seated alongside:
1. Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbassogo, 80, Africa’s longest-serving leader, still in power after 45 years since the 1979 coup.
2. Cameroon’s President Paul Biya, 91, who has been in power for more than four decades since 1982. Africa’s second longest-serving African President with 43 years rule.
3. Congo’s President Denis Sassou Nguesso, 80, who first held power in 1979 and has been in charge for a total of 40 years and was re-elected for a fourth term in 2022.
4. Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, 80, who has been in power since 1986, boasting 38 years in charge of Uganda and got re-elected in January 2021 for a sixth term.
5. Eswatini’s King Mswati III is the continent’s last absolute monarch. He ascended the throne in 1986 aged just 18. He’s been in charge for 38 years.
6. Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, 78, who has been the president for 27 years. He first came to power in 1991 after leading the country’s independence movement from Ethiopia.
7. He will also share with Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu, 71; Ivory Coast’s Alassane Ouattara, 81; Zimbabwe’s Emmerson Mnangagwa, 80; and Algeria’s Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who is 78 years old.
