By Valérie NivelonMaxime GremberPosted on 25-01-2019Modified on 25-01-2019 at 12:08
Ten years after the death of Mamadou Dia, president of the Council of Senegal from 1957 to 1962, his former chief of staff, Roland Colin, chose to entrust the entirety of his twelve hours of interviews recorded in Dakar between 1975 and 1978 to Valerie Nivelon, producer of the program The World Walk at RFI.
It is an unpublished sound archive where the first president of the Council of Senegal returns without any concession or bitterness on the crisis of 1962 and his years of prison, following his arrest ordered by his mentor Léopold Sédar Senghor, first president of the Senegalese Republic . But the testimony of Mamadou Dia is not limited to the event of 1962, as tragic as it is. Its autobiographical dimension revisits the entire history of the anticolonial struggle since the 1930s. That of an African and Muslim teacher, whose nationalist ideal suffered no compromise with France. At Senghor's proposal to free him from his commitment to give up politics, Dia said he preferred " living free in jail rather than being held prisoner ".
Before discovering the Mamadou Dia voice , the documentary series in three episodes exclusively aired in the March of the world on RFI from Sunday, March 17 at 11:10 UT, Roland Colin returns on the history of this audio archive and on the biographical dimension from the story of Dia.
RFI: In what circumstances did you do these interviews?
Roland Colin: I found Mamadou Dia in Dakar in 1974, just after his release from prison and I told him that his testimony was fundamental, that his story should now be part of the great history and that he had to take the floor again so that everyone can hear what he has to say.
He was very happy with this proposal, but since he had become almost blind and could not write anymore, he agreed to testify orally and to return to his career, from his childhood to his imprisonment in 1962.
It is in this context that his autobiographical story was recorded. The memorization work was done in stages. We saw him fifteen times at his home in Dakar between 1975 and 1978. This work allowed him to write his autobiographical book: Africa, the price of freedom (edited by L'Harmattan).
I carefully kept these recordings and decided today, at age 90, to donate them to RFI for Valérie Nivelon's show, La marche du monde . It is important that these archives can be known by all, because they give us the voice of Mamadou Dia, actor of the independence of Senegal, but also unavoidable figure of the decolonization in AOF (French West Africa) and in Algeria .
When do you go to Mamadou Dia's office and what position do you occupy?
The Deffere Framework Law of 23 January 1956 creates for the first time a Senegalese government, and it is the party of Léopold Sédar Senghor that occupies the position of responsibility. Léopold Sédar Senghor appoints Mamadou Dia as head of the government.
At the request of Léopold Sédar Senghor, I entered the cabinet of Mamadou Dia in July 1957, which I knew and for whom I had esteem. Mamadou Dia entrusts me with several important missions; to work for the Federation of West African States, to follow the transfer of the capital of Saint-Louis to Dakar and to accompany it in the implementation of its economic development policy; rural animation.
Can comparisons be made in Senghor and Dia's backgrounds and origins?
Mamadou Dia comes from a poor class. He does not belong to the middle of the urban bourgeoisie, unlike Léopold Sédar Senghor, whose father was well anchored in the business world.
Léopold Sédar Senghor was extracted from his environment at the age of 7 years. He was sent to school where he was taught French and Wolof, while his mother tongue was serer. He discovered religion and French culture, while being worked by the sting of lost first culture and which he called his childhood kingdom. From then on, he will be obsessed by the return to this lost culture; Negritude, according to him, which will be seen as a reconquest of oneself. He arrived in Paris in 1928 and stayed there until 1945.
When he returns to Senegal, he hears about Mamadou Dia, who was a young teacher and did a great job with the Senegalese peasants. He meets a boy in full possession of his negritude first and will be fascinated by the negritude of Dia, who had just created, with a group of friends, the circle of authenticity, true crucible of blackness accomplished.
On the other hand, Dia considered that religion could not be a discriminating factor to interest others, which explains why he welcomed Senghor (Christian) with a lot of openness.
To what extent does religion appear as a key to understanding Mamadou Dia's personality and political ethics?
His testimony allows us to understand the importance that his father played in his life. This " dignified and extraordinary man ", as he called him, was a rural police officer and he embodied in his eyes the rectitude and the law. His accidental death will deeply mark him and strengthen his faith.
By the way of a Sufi Islam that his father transmitted to him, religion was of the order of the staff and he was revulsed to see the use of Islam by the marabouts. He wanted to make a big national base on Islam and development, but that could not be done because of the events of 1962.
Where does his interest come from?
He became a teacher, then as director of the regional school of Fatick, he wrote for newspapers in which he describes the misery of the peasant world he knows well. His articles focus on economic issues. It advocates the reunification of farmers in cooperatives, ideal way for their emancipation. This idea will later mark his political thought.
How did Mamadou Dia enter politics and did he create the Senegalese Democratic Bloc (BDS) with his mentor Léopold Sédar Senghor?
First reluctant to political action, he agrees to come at the request of the inhabitants of Fatick who wish to see him a candidate for the general council. Sponsored by Senghor, it comes under the label SFIO.
His relations with Lamine Gueye, leader of the SFIO, deteriorate and with a group of protesting comrades, including Léopold Sédar Senghor, he decides to get involved in the creation of the BDS.
Why does Mamadou Dia have special relations with religious and trade unionists to create the BDS?
The contact with the religious and the syndicalists allowed the BDS to be structured and to extend, where the SFIO had no influence.
Mamadou Dia was close to trade union activist Ibrahima Sar, who was the host of the 1947 Great Railway Strike. Ibrahima Sar was Minister of Labor and Public Service in the Dia government. He will remain loyal and in solidarity with Dia during the events of 1962. He will be imprisoned just like Dia for twelve years. He died shortly after, following a badly treated illness during his imprisonment.
How is the year 1958 a turning point in Senegalese politics?
The year 1958 is that of the collapse of the Fourth French Republic. General de Gaulle comes to power and agrees to take another step towards the autonomy of the territories of the AOF by proposing a major referendum on the whole area of French influence, where countries must choose between two options : take independence immediately or federate within the French community ...
A big debate, because choosing independence is emerging on the international plane in the form of a small state and compromising the real chances of economic and geopolitical emancipation. Senegal, along with others, chose the status of member state of the community, announcing that it is transforming its internal system so as to be able to assume the responsibilities of independence. Senegal is giving itself four years to transfer its economy.
How does Mamadou Dia go about transforming the economy of his country?
Dia had an economic background, which was precious and rare for an African leader of that time. And as Senegal was still living in the colonialist trade economy, it will choose the path of the social economy to transform the groundnut economy and create farmers' cooperatives, which will be real places to learn democracy. . His goal is to carry out this training and transformation work over four years.
It needs a peasant education tool to enable the population to manage what it is offered; it will be rural animation. Dia will talk about a democratically contractual economy and a humanist - and not bureaucratic - socialism according to the cultural references of the people. From there, his government will propose to the farmers to organize themselves in farmers' cooperatives, then he will choose to reform the administration so that this one is a administration of partnership. Dia will call this system of co-management and self-management the " humanist African socialism ".
Is it during this period that you start your collaboration with Mamadou Dia?
Yes. Granted to this idea, Mamadou Dia asks me to take the lead of his cabinet. It will be four exciting years of setting up the development of rural animation. A necessary step to move from autonomy to independence.
How is rural animation set up?
The state sets up a four-year development plan for each region: 750 cooperatives are created in the first year. The state creates a development bank and a marketing board, which makes it possible to exit the trading economy. Of the 600 000 tonnes of groundnuts produced each year, 150 000 tonnes are produced through the social economy. The outside protagonists do not believe it and think that the blacks are incapable of managing themselves ... At the end of the first year, everything works with the chalk.
In the second year, 1,500 cooperatives are created and 300,000 tonnes of peanuts are produced. Everything is working normally and the protagonists outside the hostile regime are starting to be afraid and think that if we go to 75%, it will be irreversible ... Therefore, it is necessary to "shoot down" Dia before the third year.
How will the opponents of Mamadou Dia go about bringing down his government?
Opponents form a coalition comprising three components: "international business firms", "the great Senegalese marabouts" and "administrative staff". The goal is to overthrow the government before the third year by tabling a no-confidence motion by MPs who oppose Dia's policy.
In the meantime, Senghor had assumed the office of President of the Republic. Dia was still head of government and could guide the government with the confidence of Senghor, who could arbitrate in case of crisis. The management of Dia is criticized. He is getting back in touch with some leaders from Eastern countries, including Yugoslavia, whose self-management principle interests him. Dia's enemies poison Senghor, because Dia's socialism will lead to communism as a destruction to Africa. Senghor is made to believe that Dia is mounting a plot against him to turn Senegal into an Islamic republic. Gradually, Senghor will be overwhelmed by this idea.
How does Mamadou Dia describe the events of 1962 in your interviews?
Senghor had settled in an "Elysian" protocol, so that Dia no longer had the same access to Senghor as before to simply discuss.
The Frondeurs deputies file a motion of censure while they are from the same party as Dia and Senghor. They schedule the vote of the motion of censure before the National Council meets. Dia is facing a political and moral dilemma; If he lets it go, the whole policy that has been going on for years is crumbling. So we have to convince parliamentarians before the party meets, which it does not succeed. The motion of censure is voted. In parallel, the Constitution changes and we move to the presidential regime. Dia is embarked by the army. The news is widespread: Dia has attempted a coup, the press is under control, and Senghor is said to have saved democracy from a coup.
Where were you at this moment?
A month before the events of 1962, I was in the office of Dia and I still had access to Senghor with whom I could discuss, because he had confidence in me, but a tuberculosis forces me to be evacuated in France. I'm hearing the news of Dia's imprisonment on the radio from France.
When do you return to Senegal?
Senghor sends me a message and tells me that my place is in Senegal, and that he will give me important responsibilities when I leave the sanatorium. I tell him that I can not go back to Senegal while Dia is in prison. Senghor gets angry and interrupts his relationship with me. I return to Paris in June 1963 after eight months in the sanatorium and I enter the direction of Iram, the Institute for research and applications of development methods. Madagascar and Niger were interested in the methods of Dia and I served as their interlocutor.
Meanwhile, Dia is sentenced for a coup by a court composed of parliamentarians who voted the motion of censure, and is sent to a detention center near the border of Mali.
In 1967, I return to Dakar for an international congress and meet Senghor the day after my arrival. I remind him of the esteem I have for him and that the tandem he formed with Dia was fundamental, that it was a chance for Africa to have a man of culture and an economist at the head of the government. of Senegal, and that together they must stand together to lead the destiny of Senegal. Senghor wants to consider measures allowing the release of Dia, but he wants guarantees and offers me to do the intermediary to implement his release.
What is your role during Dia's twelve years in prison?
I continue to write regularly to Senghor without being able to make progress and one day Senghor makes me come to Dakar. He asks me to carry the following message: " I decided to consider the release of Dia on the condition that he makes a written commitment to give up politics ." I take care of the intermediary and Senghor allows me to secretly meet Dia in prison.
I see Dia again in 1972 and he explains Senghor's requirements and he tells me that he sees politics not as a right but also as a duty. He dictates to me a text that I give to Senghor in which he says he prefers "to live free in prison rather than being a prisoner outside ". The letter goes to Senghor's office, who believes Dia is doing the wrong thing.
Meanwhile, Dia wishes that his message is known and asks me that his letter be sent to Houphouet-Boigny, then President of Côte d'Ivoire. Reconciliation between Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire is in full swing; Senghor makes his reconciliation trip to Abidjan and invites Houphouet to Dakar. Houphouet-Boigny calls the Embassy of Senegal and says he agrees on the condition that Dia out of prison. Senghor receives the message and the negotiations reopen to get Dia out of jail. A compromise is found. We are in 1974.
How did Dia endure his twelve years of detention?
His living conditions were very hard. He held the shock morally and spiritually by taking it as a human and metaphysical test. A mission vis-à-vis his people. He has meditated, reflected, read and written. He came out again grown up.
I greatly admired his moral strength and his serenity. Dia was separated from his five companions with whom he had no contact during those twelve years. Everyone in his house. He lived in solitude and could only be visited once a quarter. He came out of these long years of incarceration with a desire for total freedom.
In what state of mind do you find Mamadou Dia on leaving prison? Was reconciliation possible with Senghor?
Dia was obviously happy to find his family and freedom but he was not inhabited by a spirit of revenge. He was convinced that he still had a duty to fulfill in the line of participatory democracy.
With Senghor, we can speak of a resumption of contact and not of a reconciliation. As soon as Dia got out of jail, he asked to be received by Senghor. Once in his office, he walked towards him, opened his arms and said: " So you do not kiss me Leopold? This followed a political conversation in which Dia told him that it was necessary to involve civil society more so that he could move towards participatory democracy and that he wanted to found an African international for development. Senghor was taken aback by Dia's request.
Dia created this foundation in 1975 and starts making trips. The Senegalese government has put a spoke in the wheels. The project ran for two years. Dia then resumed his political militancy.
Bibliography:
- Africa, the price of freedom , Mamadou Dia, L'Harmattan edition (out of print)
- The Golden Fleece of Liberty , Roland Colin, African Presence Edition
Biography of Roland Colin
Born in 1928, Roland Colin joined the French National School of Overseas in 1948 where he had Léopold Sédar Senghor as a teacher and with whom he became friends. Graduated from the School of Oriental Languages, he began his career as an administrator in French Sudan (now Mali) in 1952, then in Senegal in 1955.
In July 1957, at the request of President Senghor, he was appointed technical advisor in the cabinet of Mamadou Dia, president of the Governing Council of Senegal, then head of the government of the Republic of Senegal in 1958.
Following the arrest of Mamadou Dia in December 1962, Roland Colin abandoned all official functions and returned to France to begin a career as an anthropologist and academic, specialist development of African countries.
On the same subject
Senegal: film in memory of Mamadou Dia, the father of independence
Portrait of Mamadou Dia (1/8)
Léopold Sédar Senghor: Joal's poet
Thirty years of political life with Léopold Sedar Senghor
Christian Valantin: "Thirty years of political life with Léopold Sédar Senghor"
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