It’s a sad day. My country, Sénégal, is in shambles. Protests have broken out everywhere.
I am typing this using a VPN because all social media have been blocked.
I have always known Sénégal to be a peaceful stable democracy. But today, I am confronted with a new reality.
The TLDR of a much more complex problem:
2 years ago, the main opposition party leader was accused of rape. Since then, many protests have been held to denounce it as politically motivated ploy to keep him from running for the presidential election. The fear was that the current president would run for a 3rd term, even though the constitution was recently changed to limit presidents to 2 terms. Over a dozen people have died during these protests. Today, he was acquitted of the rape charges but sentenced to 2 years in prison for “corrupting youth”. Mayhem ensued. Thousands of youths marching and fighting police, demanding that the charges be dropped and that the current president stepped down.
I couldn’t work today. I am not sure what tomorrow is going to be like. On one hand, people out in the streets are exercising their political power to protect democracy. Anarchy is sometimes the only course of action. On the other hand, I fear for my daughter and mourn the peace I once took for granted.