Videocall with Youssouph on the street
Youssouph has been active during the political unrest of 2024. Starting from the first day, Youssouph had been outspoken in expressing his support of the PASTEF and Sonko, spreading messages on WhatsApp criticising Macky Sall’s government and expressing support for Sonko as well as Ibrahim Traoré, the interim leader of Burkina Faso. According to Youssouph, Sonko and Traoré are examples of what a “modern” African leader should be, young and not afraid to defend the interests of their country over those of the international community.
Unsurprisingly, Youssouph took to the streets to protest against the government and demand a fair election. Even though Youssouph talked about a fair election, it was clear that he referred to the participation of PASTEF leaders Diomaye and Sonko. I asked Youssouph what led him to become such a strong supporter of the PASTEF. Youssouph was quick to answer that he thought that Sonko and Diomaye were the leaders of the young generation and having their interests at heart. He said that the biggest reason why he supported Sonko was because of his stance against corruption, something that Youssouph thought plagued Senegal and which effects were especially felt in the Casamance, due to unfair exploitation of their resources. Built on that argument, Youssouph also supported the fact that Sonko was the mayor of Ziguinchor, being a local politician with the chance to govern the country. For Youssouph this was something major as he saw it as a way to reduce the inequality between the Casamance and the rest of the country. He added that he also respected Sonko as a person, noting how he said during his inauguration speech that he would only take a small salary to support his parents and how one of his first steps as mayor of Ziguinchor was to lay off many unneeded positions in the local government to allocate resources to areas that needed them, especially noting the conditions of the roads and education.
, Youssouph said with pride. I asked him what he meant by that mistake. Youssouph noted that the government usually tries to silence political opponents with the help of the French but that neither the Senegalese government nor the French intelligence services realised how popular Sonko would become. According to Youssouph, this surprise was deliberate as well, noting that Sonko could have become the mayor of Dakar but that he chose Ziguinchor instead to support his local region and avoid the attention that he would get as mayor of Dakar. Youssouph continued by saying that Sall’s government finally realised that they would lose the elections against Sonko and that the reason was why they delayed them to an unspecified date, not due to Karim Wade’s citizenship issue. At this point I interrupted Youssouph, asking why he kept referring to Sonko’s victory even though Sonko was still imprisoned and was not allowed to run in these elections anyway, nominating the PASTEF’s general secretary, Diomaye to run in his place instead. Youssouph answered without hesitation, saying “Sonko and Diomaye are brothers. They have known each other for years and made their success together. Diomaye will do the same things that Sonko will do”.
“The government made a big mistake with Sonko”
A common sight in Ziguinchor:
”I am a patriot, Sonko is my candidate, #FreeSonko”, showing Ousmane Sonko in front of Africa
&
”For the liberation of political hostages, I will engage!”, showing a chained fist raised in defiance
During the first days of the unrest, Youssouph asked me if I wanted to go on the streets with him. He was well aware of the purpose of my research at this point and said that this was what the local young adults were doing. He also added that he checked international French news agencies and that they did not portray the electoral crisis on the ground, saying that he thought that I should document it instead on the streets. Even though I considered the invitation, I had to refuse it. It was already a challenge to get permission from the university to do research in the Casamance due to the conflict, albeit a low-intensity one, and getting myself involved in these events would likely not be received well.
However, I found a way to still document the events unfolding on the streets by video-calling Youssouph throughout the days whenever he said that he would be out protesting. With his permission, I recorded his calls and he would describe what was happening around. Unfortunately, I realised that the software I used to record my screen did not register audio, leaving only the footage of the protests. A selection of this footage can be found below, with cuts in the footage to avoid identifying people present.
TIMESTAMPS OF NOTEWORHTY EVENTS
0:49 - A young man is throwing rocks at the authorities on top of a fuel tank
1:19 - Large clouds of smoke can be seen on the streets
2:32 - More rocks are thrown, a large crowd of young men can be seen hiding behind the fuel tank
3:19 - A close up of some of the rather large rocks being thrown to the authorities
3:56 and onwards - close-up of a street bonfire and the surroundings of a road blockade
The first half of the footage shows protesters in an undisclosed neighbourhood of Ziguinchor affronting the authorities. It can be seen that protestors are hiding in a side street, taking cover behind a gas or fuel tank and throwing stones at the authorities. Black smoke from fires on the street can be seen in the background. In the video, although there is no sound, the protestors were hiding behind this tank to wait and see if the authorities would charge at them, which did not turn out to be the case.
The second half shows a roadblock in Ziguinchor. The protestors light tree trunks and tyres on fire to prevent the authorities from passing through, as well as removing bricks from the street to use as ammunition or to build barricades along the fires. During this call, Youssouph described how people from the neighbourhood were taking shifts to guard their checkpoints so that others could rest and eat. I asked him if he thought that this would achieve his desired result, he said it would and used the slogan of the PASTEF to justify the risk that he and his friends were taking on the street, “Self-sacrifice for the Fatherland”, “le don de soi pour la Patrie”.
NEXT: Chérif leaving the market in a hurry and a walk back through town
