Article by
KATONGOLE ARNOLD
My decision, carefully considered , is not to run as a candidate in the upcoming election.”
“Senegal is more than me, and full of capable leaders for the county’s development.”
Senegal’s first president after French colonial rule , Macky Sall has been in office since 2012. He rose to power after a re-run of the 2012 elections. Sall secured confidence of the negative and Abdoulaye Wade was put out of office. Sall was elected for a second term in 2019 as president of Senegal. However this time round, he has vowed and assured Senegal that he will not stand for a third term in the looming 2024 presidential General elections.
For months now, rocketed hearsay, talks and rumors have been allover local and international media of Sall’s interest in running for a third term in office. After amending the constitution in 2016 following a referendum, the president was to serve only two terms in office.

At the time, Sall was already serving his first term in office and legally his first term in office would not apply to the new terms. This means it would automatically be legal for Sall to stand for a third term in office unless nullified by the court.
Charges of Rape and bribing the youths were brought against opposition leader, Osumane Sonko, however court acquitted him of rape charges but found him guilty of bribing youths. The court sentenced Sonko to two years in Jail, which automatically disqualifies him from contesting in the forthcoming 2024 presidential elections.
This court verdict sparked anger in the Sonko supporters after the rumors of Sall standing for third term in office and allegations that he was behind the court verdict to erase Sonko , his direct rival from contesting for office.
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This flared processions, demonstrations and strikes across Senegal, this chaos claimed about 14 lives. The mayhem fractured Senegal’s reputation as a conveyer belt for democracy in West Africa. Sall let the tide calm down however opposition leaders continued to urge the public to carryout more processions demanding Sall to step down.
In a televised press conference, Sall 61 announced his decision not to run in the forth coming elections. “My decision, carefully considered , is not to run as a candidate in the upcoming election.”
“Senegal is more than me, and full of capable leaders for the county’s development.” He further elucidated. This address took world media by storm, silenced the Sall critics and Sonko zealots.

The fundamental step taken by Macky Sall is a precedence set for not only Senegal, but for all Africa’s politics to embrace, reflect on and benchmark amidst sour talks of failure to abide by rule of law to African leaders by the west and citizenry in respective countries.
