Portrait published on June 2, 2023 and updated on April 3, 2024.

He was one of the main faces of the opposition to President Macky Sall before becoming a key part of the election of Bassirou Diomaye Faye as president of Senegal. Almost 50 years old, Ousmane Sonko was appointed Prime Minister on Tuesday April 2 - a symbol of "systemic change", sovereignty and appeasement promised by the new head of state. Because for a long time, he appeared to some as the herald of the struggle for the people and against corrupt elites, to others as an incendiary agitator. 

After three years of legal cases described as a political "conspiracy" by Ousmane Sonko and a candidacy for the supreme office rejected at the start of the year by the Constitutional Council, the opponent was released from prison on March 14, 10 days before the presidential. Time to take an active part in the campaign of his number 2, Bassirou Diomaye Faye. He will have thus surveyed his region of origin, Casamance, to call for votes for his ally and allow him to benefit from his popularity. 

Read alsoBassirou Diomaye Faye, close to Sonko, on the verge of becoming the youngest president of Senegal

From tax official to leading figure 

However, a few years ago, the new Prime Minister was still unknown on the Senegalese political scene. Ousmane Sonko was born on July 15, 1974 in Thiès, 70 kilometers east of Dakar. The son of civil servant parents, he grew up in Casamance and went to study at Gaston-Berger University in Saint-Louis, where he obtained his master's degree in public law in 1999. Two years later, he graduated at the top of his class at the National School of Administration (ENA) of Senegal and began his career as a tax inspector. 

After three years spent in the administration, he created the Autonomous Union of Tax and Domain Agents (SAID). In 2014, he entered politics with the creation of his own party, Pastef (Patriots of Senegal for work, ethics and fraternity).  

In 2016, he was propelled to the forefront when he accused the state of tax fraud and corruption based on his experience as an inspector. The official denounces in particular embezzlement of public funds or tax advantages unduly received by figures in power. He published “Oil and gas in Senegal – Chronicle of a spoliation” (ed. Fauves) in which he denounces the management of the country's natural resources by the president and his entourage.

He was then removed from the civil service for "failure to exercise discretion" by a presidential decree. “It was truly at this time that he became a leading figure,” relates Babacar Ndiaye, director of research and publications of the Wathi think tank, based in Dakar. 

Figure of a youth in search of change 

Elected deputy in 2017, he appears at ease on television sets and smiles during meetings with activists. Ousmane Sonko knows how to use shock phrases and opposes the official narrative of Senegal "on the path to emergence", a promise from President Macky Sall. 

In 2019, he entered the race for the presidential election. His speech appeals to young people. “He addresses young people with remarks in favor of economic sovereignty, patriotism, while criticizing state governance,” continues Babacar Ndiaye. “He arrived with a message of change and this met with a form of support from young people.” And above all, he is not a “politician”. But his detractors criticize him for his lack of experience and his shattering speeches. 

On February 24, 2019, he finished in third place in the presidential election with 15.67% of the vote, behind outgoing President Macky Sall and former Prime Minister Idrissa Seck. 

Legal cases, a “sword of Damocles” 

But in 2021, Ousmane Sonko finds himself at the heart of a legal battle which is shaking up his political ambitions. In February, the opponent was accused of rape and death threats by Adji Sarr, an employee of a beauty salon. He denies the facts and then denounces a political maneuver. His arrest provoked violent clashes between his supporters and the police. The wave of protest is of an unprecedented scale for this West African country known for its stability. Released under judicial supervision in March 2021, Ousmane Sonko says he is the victim of “a state conspiracy” initiated by those close to President Macky Sall. 

Ousmane Sonko speaks to journalists after being released from police custody in Dakar, Senegal, Monday, March 8, 2021. © Sylvain Cherkaoui, AP

At this time, this does not prevent Ousmane Sonko from continuing his rise in politics. In 2022, he was elected mayor of Ziguinchor, in Casamance, after forming the coalition Yewwi Askan Wi – YAW, Let's Liberate the People in Wolof – with several members of the opposition, including the former mayor of Dakar Khalifa Sall. 

A social media ace, he speaks very regularly live on his Facebook page to reach a large segment of the Senegalese population, making the rest of the political class and its communication methods out of date.

Mehdi Ba, who interviewed him twice for Jeune Afrique in recent years, describes him as a “left-wing sovereignist”. The journalist explains: "The tone of his political speech is rather left-wing - even if the right-left subdivision does not exist in Senegal - and at the same time sovereignist, since he highlights the interests of Senegal in international level and those of the people at the national level.

In the shadow of Bassirou Diomaye Faye

In August 2022, he is a candidate for the next presidential election in February 2024. An election that he would be able to win, believes Nicolas Normand, former French ambassador to Dakar. But his political rise came to a complete halt on June 1, 2023. Ousmane Sonko was sentenced to two years in prison for “corruption of youth” – a sentence which, according to the Electoral Code, results in his ineligibility.

A new wave of protests swept across the country, leaving nine people dead on June 1. For several weeks, the opponent's supporters took to the streets and unrest broke out in Dakar and several cities. The opposition figure is then arrested and prosecuted, among other things, for “calling for insurrection” and “conspiracy against state authority”. A reaction to his speeches and participation in demonstrations since 2021.

Opposition supporters two days before the trial of Ousmane Sonko, in Dakar, March 14, 2023. © AFP

In July 2023, his party was dissolved and his candidacy for the presidential election officially invalidated at the beginning of 2024. The face of the opposition was definitively excluded from the race for the supreme office. But it was with his support that Bassirou Diomaye Faye was nominated as candidate in his place, with a slogan: "Ousmane mooy Diomaye" ("Ousmane, it's Diomaye"). It must be said that the two men have things in common: they went through the ENA and the tax inspectorate, then union action and the management of Pastef. And if Bassirou Diomaye Faye is also in prison, the inmate's candidacy is validated by the Constitutional Council. 

On March 14, after weeks of crisis surrounding the postponement of the presidential election, initially scheduled for February 25, and an amnesty law, the two men were finally released, in time for a hasty electoral campaign. On April 2, Bassirou Diomaye Faye officially became the youngest president of the West African country less than three weeks after leaving prison.

Read alsoPresidential election in Senegal: the untold story of an election canceled, postponed then brought forward

In a brief speech, he said he was "aware" that his large victory in the first round of the presidential election on March 24 expressed "a deep desire for systemic change." “Senegal under my leadership will be a country of hope, a peaceful country with independent justice and a strengthened democracy,” he said. Ousmane Sonko was in the front row.

The France 24 summary of the week

invites you to look back at the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you! Download the France 24 application