In the afternoon of the 9th of February, I met up with Chérif at the St Maur market. I was informed that a large protest would happen that day and decided to head more towards the city centre to observe the atmosphere in the area and hear what the word on the street was. I dropped by Chérif’s market stall to hear what he thought about the situation.

Chérif was sitting on a chair next to his stall and welcomed me kindly. We quickly started to talk about the recent developments. Chérif said that the situation and anti-government protests were a complicated matter, deciding not to support either side. He was quick to call Macky Sall a criminal, saying that it was due to his actions that the democracy in Senegal was questioned at this moment and that this was the first time since Senegal’s independence that the presidential elections had been delayed. Chérif shared the same reasoning as Limane and Landing, saying that the elections had been delayed just so that Macky Sall could prepare a successor to his presidency and prevent the opposition from winning. He added that the last topic was a big issue in Ziguinchor, as Ousmane Sonko was the mayor at that time and many felt that by doing Sonko injustice, injustice was done to the Casamance. Still, Chérif has a complicated position regarding Sonko and the current unrest. He mentioned how he is an apolitical patriot, saying that he wants the best for the country. According to Chérif, although Sonko has resisted the government and “showed the youth the truth”, “a montré la vérité aux jeunes”, implying that the Senegalese political environment can be changed, he disapproved of Sonko’s apparent support of the current violence, believing that it would do more harm than good. 

I asked him about the protests that would be happening anytime soon in the area and asking his views about that. He referred back to what he said about Sonko just before, saying that many young adults are not speaking up in an intelligent matter and that protesting in their own neighbourhoods will not result in anything. “If they were intelligent, they would go to Escale and gather in front of the city hall until something changes”, “S'ils étaient intelligents, ils iraient à Escale et se rassembleraient devant la mairie jusqu'à ce que les affaires changent”. His biggest issue with the current protests was how the police would eventually show up to break up the crowds and that it would escalate with collateral damage. He named one example in particular, if protestors would run away, they would often run into random houses or climb over the walls to escape from the authorities. According to Chérif, it would happen that the authorities throw tear gas canisters into the houses to drive the protestors out but hurt innocent people in the process. Although I understand his issue with this, I have not been able to verify these claims. 

Chérif tried to carry on with this topic but got interrupted by a commotion on the street outside the market. He stood up and said “we are going to leave right now”, “nous allons partir maintenant”. People started to leave the market and vendors were closing their stalls. I helped Chérif move his goods inside, making us some of the last people to exit the market we helped close the gate to the entrance after everyone was outside. Black smoke was already above the rooftops and Chérif said that he was heading home and that I was welcome to join him. I said that I would try and observe what was going on instead from a distance. He understood my decision, saying that as long as I kept my distance, the protestors and the authorities would leave me alone. I confirmed that I would keep my distance as although it might not be intentional, a potential stray brick or tear gas canister would not be able to tell the difference between me and those involved. We shook hands and wished each other good luck, with Chérif giving me a final piece of advise to avoid the main roads.