Throughout our meetings, Chérif loved to talk about Senegalese politics, sharing his ideas on how the country should be governed. While discussing his views on the local political situation regarding Ousmane Sonko, Chérif suddenly said

this was an interesting statement to hear and I quickly asked him to tell me more about it. At this point, he shifted his posture, being from relaxed, sitting back in his seat and excitedly talking to leaning forward and speaking in a low voice to me. He said that he believes that the Casamance is actually a part of Guinea-Bissau.

He then said that even though the Casamance should not be part of Senegal, it is what it is right now and nothing can be changed from the past. He said that the MFDC was right in wanting independence from Senegal but that they ruined their chances by using violence and not having proper leadership anymore,

He blamed the MFDC for keeping the idea of independence off the table due to their actions but that autonomy or proper integration were the only options left right now. He said that realistically, autonomy also wouldn’t be an option anymore given the region’s past, only leaving proper integration. I asked Chérif about how this integration would take shape in his eyes, he said that people from the Casamance should get an equal chance compared to the rest of the country but that it should be done through a dialogue.

I asked Chérif to explain his metaphor, to which he said that getting a dialogue is impossible with the current situation, because there are no strong leaders in the Casamance, not even Sonko, and that the only ones who can be considered as the leaders, the MFDC, are an illegitimate representation of the region. He added to that thought and referring to his outspoken criticism of Macky Sall’s government throughout many conversations; how can they have a stable democracy in the region if they do not even have democracy on a national level? He emphasised again that the only way that the Casamance could be integrated is through dialogue, asking me if I thought a stable and peaceful society could be created through combat. I answered that I thought that it was a rare phenomenon, to which he agreed. I asked him a question in return, “what would be the ideal system for the Casamance according to you?”, “qu’est-ce que serait le systeme idéal pour la Casamance selon toi?”. He thought about the question for a moment in silence while rolling a cigarette before saying,

“And we have already been at war for 40 years!”

“Et on est deja en guerre depuis 40 ans!”

“It’s a fact. And it’s the land of the Jolas. Not even, the Bainuks were here first!”

“C’est un fait. Et c’est la terre des Jolas. C’est meme pas vrai, les Bainuks étaient la avants!”

“They’re idiots who hang around the forests next to the Gambia and Guinea”

“Ce sont des idiots qui trainent dans les bois a coté de Gambie et Guinée”

“We tried violence for 40 years. What has it brought us? Nothing! We need to choose a new way because right now a boulder is blocking our road towards a dialogue”

“on a essayé la violence pendant 40 ans. Qu’est-ce que ça nous a apporté? Rien! Il faut choisir une voie vers un dialogue parce que maintenant nous sommes a un impasse avec une roche qui nous bloque la route”.

“Do you see how it works in the United States? They have 50 states and one government. That works really well”

“tu vois comment ça marche aux États-Unis? Ils ont 50 états et un seul gouvernement. Ça marche très bien”

Next: Youssouph about the MFDC