The Current Popular Uprising in Senegal The Africanist Podcast

Senegal, one of the model democracies on the African continent has been experiencing an unprecedented popular uprising following the arrest of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko on disorderly conduct and call for insurrection charges. Prior to that, Ousmane Sonko has been accused of rape followed by death threats by a young masseuse named Adji Sarr. While Sonko continues to claim that the accusations are part of a conspiracy to eliminate him from the upcoming presidential race, the presidential camp maintains that the allegations brought against him has nothing to do with politics. So far, a dozen of protesters lost their lives and the matter is pending in court. In this episode, Drs. Marame Guéye (East Carolina University) and Oumar Ba (Morehouse College) discuss the causes and potential ways out of the civil unrest.