Rédaction Africa Links 24 with pierre Dieme
Published on 2024-03-13 23:08:29
“When one does not have a code of honor, one crosses cheerfully and without scruples the threshold of political ignominy.”
In 2012, tired and very disappointed with President Abdoulaye Wade’s liberal regime which put the republic’s institutions to the test and shamelessly consecrated impunity as a mode of governance, covering the worst forms of economic crimes, the Senegalese believed they had found in Macky Sall the providential man who would put an end to their suffering. In reality, their votes were against President Abdoulaye Wade rather than anything else. However, it must be recognized that candidate Macky Sall had developed a captivating and convincing discourse by promising to restore the rule of law, the dignity of institutions, and to put an end to impunity. And as the saying goes, it’s at the foot of the wall that we judge the mason. Indeed, after a few months in power, the Senegalese quickly discovered a different Macky Sall from the one they had invested their trust in by giving him their votes. They began to realize that they had been deceived and tricked by a baker, a charlatan, who has a perfected and demonstrated mastery of “ndiouth-ndiath” which he has made a paradigmatic element of governance. His twelve years of leadership in the country allowed the Senegalese to understand the man and discover him.
The personality of President Macky Sall is strongly and deeply characterized by unbridled idiosyncrasy nourished by a violence that manifests itself according to the circumstances of the moment. Added to this is his natural cyclothymia which makes him always unpredictable. President Macky Sall is an introverted person who seems to have difficulty socializing; he is closed and withdrawn, lacks openness and is not inclined to dialogue or the externalization of his feelings, all of which push him towards secrecy. He is impulsive, intolerant, and irascible, even though he often tries not to show it; he is hardly open to criticism and does not tolerate contradiction, considering any opinion contrary to his as a challenge to his authority.
In the conduct of affairs, President Macky Sall shows more authoritarianism than authority, which he is fundamentally lacking; authoritarianism, which is a sign of weakness, makes you refractory and resistant to the ideas of others and prevents you from having a great listening capacity. Often to prove that he is the boss, President Macky Sall goes to excess in language, sometimes showing inappropriate verbal violence which I will mention later. It’s as if President Macky Sall nurtures an inferiority complex or misunderstands his true status as Head of State. He seems to want to leave his mark in each of his acts, actions, or words. A session on a psychoanalyst’s couch might, perhaps, help understand this identity disturbance; it’s as if every act, every action, or every word should give him the opportunity to recall his status as President of the republic. This deliberately displayed atrabilious demeanor is a compensatory attitude of a real deficit of assurance, self-confidence, and authority; a subtle way to establish a barrier, a distance in order not to reveal the nature of his deep weakness.
President Macky Sall exhibits the characteristic symptoms of a man who harbors unspoken frustration deep within his being; as if someone who blames all society that he would like to hold responsible for a childhood marked by a social and family environment characterized by penury and poverty. The expression of his always frowning and unfriendly face leaves no doubt about his discomfort and unease; he is constantly grumpy and grumbling. His difficult past should have made him modest, humble, understanding, and very oblatif. I previously mentioned the inherent violence in his mode of functioning; the examples are legion. Senegalese remember his cavalier attitude during the municipal elections in Fatick where he was mayor. Without having a national identity card as required by the law, he had forced his way by voting in front of the members of the completely astonished, mesmerized, and incredulous office, asserting his governmental responsibilities, especially his status as Prime Minister. Such behavior had caused, at the time, the indignation of all Senegalese who should have seen in it a dark facet of the personality of the one who, later, by the grace of God and the support of Abdoulaye Wade, would preside over the destiny of Senegal.
Senegalese remember his brutal and peremptory refusal, with an angry air, to appoint an independent personality to organize the elections as his predecessors had done, whose example he rejects, ignoring that following a good practice is a sign of humility which is said to be a refined and sophisticated form of intelligence, a quality that he is completely devoid of. Did he not use a threatening tone to tell his compatriots that if they did not want the Covid vaccines, he would not hesitate to offer them to other peoples who needed them? He made these remarks shamelessly, showing a condescension of very bad taste and showing neither respect, consideration, nor regard for his compatriots whom he has always treated as subjects. He forgot or pretended to forget that it is taxpayers’ money that allowed the acquisition of these vaccines.
Recently, during his tours to present and make known his successor who was imposed on him by his masters, he used verbal violence against a dignified son of Casamance by calling him a notorious crook; and worse, he sought to ridicule and belittle an entire region which, according to him, would not have any competent personnel. It is clear that President Macky Sall does not seem to have Casamance at heart for a reason known only to him, but which will be known sooner or later. For his information, he should know that the people of Casamance will continue to claim their belonging to the Senegalese nation. During the 2019 election campaign, the President of the republic, without any precaution of speech, dared to declare, addressing the Casamançais, that if they want to benefit from the support of the State and public investments, they must vote for him. If they do not, it is very likely that they will become outcasts of the republic; fellow citizens, concerned about social cohesion, national unity and civil peace, considered such statements as vile and subtle blackmail; and all blackmail carries insidious and pernicious violence.
As I have said, there are numerous examples of President Macky Sall’s verbal violence, so the cases mentioned are not exhaustive. The worst part is that this verbal violence can take the form of inappropriate mockery or irony, and sometimes even mocking, sarcastic, and caustic. Just remember the unhealthy and disgusting allusions as well as the disrespectful remarks he made regarding the “school milk” policy initiated by the former mayor of Dakar, Khalifa Sall. He had stated that if the mayor of Dakar told the truth, “thousands of students would have had diarrhea.” What indecency and baseness from a President of the republic who seems to revel in vulgarity.
Another equally deplorable aspect of President Macky Sall is his pathological and legendary instability in speech. Indeed, after a few months of presidency, the Senegalese discovered in him a character trait they did not expect: the volatility of his speech, the inconsistency of his commitments, and the evanescence of his promises never kept. It can be said without fear of being wrong that none of his commitments has been honored. Did he not promise to form a government not exceeding 25 members? Today, he is surrounded by a multitude of ministers. Did he not publicly declare that he would never sign a decree appointing his younger brother Aliou Sall? The latter was appointed, by decree, to head the general management of the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations.
The President had promised that he would allow the Court of Auditors to audit the budget of the Presidency of the republic as well as that of other institutions. None of this was respected; on the contrary, there is total opacity in the management of the budgets of the Presidency and the National Assembly, which unfortunately stand out for a complete lack of transparency in their expenditures characterized by unfounded excesses and malpractices. He had promised not to protect anyone and had told his supporters that the National Anti-Corruption Office (OFNAC) was self-reliant. What do we observe? A countless number of scandals involving embezzlement of public funds, land predation, and serious violations of elementary rules of public management. Despite everything, no member of the presidential coalition has been disturbed or questioned, let alone brought before justice which seems to be reserved for opponents only. The biggest scandal in the history of our country regarding the Covid-19 solidarity funds, amounting to 1000 billion CFA francs, has gone unpunished. This climate of impunity should not be surprising when we refer to the president’s remarks during an interview where he said, “I can understand the weakness of those who find themselves in certain situations. Their greed and inability to resist temptations often lead them to lie and betray trust. To those, I can forgive.” We have here a true anthem and an explicit encouragement to all forms of malfeasance.
President Macky Sall not only has an unstable speech but also seems to have a strained relationship with the truth. All Senegalese remember his one-man show at the presidential palace; when reminded of his opposition to Ousmane Ngom organizing the elections. He vehemently denied having done so; but social media, through the wonderful and extraordinary discovery of the VAR, immediately denied him. A liar is contradicted; and lying is affirming what one knows to be false and denying what one knows to be true. President Macky Sall publicly admitted, without shame or remorse, having engaged in the practice of “ndiouth-ndiath” which he renounced. Coming from a President of the republic, President of the Council of magistracy, and Supreme commander of the armed forces, such an admission is astonishing, alarming, scandalous, and serious. He would have engaged in deception, deceit, disloyalty, scheming, and trickery, all constituting “ndiouth-ndiath”. Such an admission could open the door to prosecution for high treason.
Staying on the subject of his personality, President of the republic Macky Sall himself reveals an unattractive side. A serious observation, a lucid examination, and a deep analysis of the acts and behaviors of President Macky Sall inform us of an important aspect of his psychological profile. Several times and in different circumstances, President Macky Sall has appeared to Senegalese as someone lacking courage. Mr. Idrissa Seck, who knows him better than anyone else, did he not qualify him as a coward and the biggest coward? The late Djibo Leity Ka did he not say of him that he is a man lacking composure, easily dismayed in the face of difficulties? And this character trait is mainly manifested, firstly, by his fear of taking responsibility for his actions and decisions, and secondly, by his systematic refusal to always fight head-on against his adversaries.
We could mention the concealment he made to Senegalese during the 2019 election campaign where he never revealed to the Senegalese his plan, once elected, to abolish the position of Prime Minister. Legitimately and rightly, his behavior is not only a lack of courage but also a total lack of honesty, sincerity, and loyalty towards populations to whom he delegates his powers and whom he solicits for support again.
In the political field, the political sphere being, by essence, a space of confrontations, clashes, frictions, and struggles, President Macky Sall has always sought to flee and to use subterfuges, expedients, stratagems, and “ndiouth-ndiath” to avoid direct combat and claim victory unfairly. We can cite the cases of Karim Wade and Khalifa Sall. And the most scandalous part by the President of the republic who swore to respect the Constitution is the use and instrumentalization of the judiciary to combat his political opponents. President Macky Sall has made concealment and evasion, of which he has a perfect mastery, a mode of action. His supporters, for the most part, hypocrites and parasites of all kinds, consider him a political genius whose only merit is to have discretionary power and means of corruption such as favors and the possibility of appointing to certain positions.
All this clearly indicates that President Macky Sall lacks self-confidence; and when lacking in self-confidence, one resorts to unorthodox means, on the fringes of legality, to win or impose oneself. It is also easy to understand why President Macky Sall does not tolerate having competent individuals with strong personalities by his side, especially those with a strong character. If circumstances force him to appoint them, he will seize the slightest opportunity and pretext to get rid of them. President Macky Sall takes pleasure in the company of individuals of little value, vile, docile, and servile, fundamentally motivated by material gain. Thus, we understand his tendency to associate with the dregs of society, wrongly and indecently.
President Macky Sall is a person not inclined to externalize his feelings, offering the image, not appreciated by Senegalese, of someone placid, impassive, and lacking in human warmth. He is introverted and leaves little room for interactions with his compatriots whom he tends to consider as subjects to be ruled over. One of the traits of psychopaths—but without categorizing him in this category of deviants—is their refusal or inability to recognize their mistakes, faults, and wrongs, preventing them from reassessing themselves, regretting their actions, feeling remorse, and coming to repentance.
During tragic events resulting in deaths, rarely was President Macky Sall seen spontaneously showing compassion to the families of the victims, contenting himself with the formality of presenting condolences, often very belatedly. Very rarely did he go to the grieving families to show solidarity. Senegalese still remember the unfortunate episode of infants who died in a fire at the health center in Tivaouane; during the meeting with the parents of the victims, President Macky Sall had ostentatiously demonstrated impatience and an eagerness to leave the place quickly to return to the gilded halls of the presidential palace. Such behavior had shocked Senegalese who concluded that for their President the value of human life seems to be reduced to a financial compensation problem that would absolve him, and his government, of any moral responsibility. Senegalese will remember their President as a man without any empathy towards his people.
Most recently, and what fuels public debate, President Macky Sall has plunged the country into a farcical and ludicrous sequence which has a damaging effect on the credibility of our country, making it the laughingstock of the world. Through this unfortunate initiative that has revealed his true personality, President Macky Sall has challenged the fundamentals that constitute the foundation of our republic. For the first time since our accession to international sovereignty, the presidential election has been postponed. Never before has such a decision, such an initiative, crossed or grazed any of his predecessors. Those were enlightened, cultured spirits, open and of great moral nobility; they had a code of honor that restrained them from undertaking unworthy actions, devoid of greatness and height.
Thus, based on a simple declaration whose fallacious and specious nature was exposed, on a suspicion without even an iota of proof, President Macky Sall felt it necessary to sign a decree canceling the presidential election scheduled for February 25, 2024. An election that Senegalese awaited eagerly, considered as the unique opportunity to put an end to a tortuous, malevolent, mephitic, brutal, and violent governance system led by men of rope and sack, without faith or law, disrespectful of human rights, devoid of all dignity, striving to accumulate wealth by sucking the blood of the people and drinking the sweat of the commoners.
The most serious and sad part is when we hear that the decree annulling the election was based on a law that had not been voted on beforehand; a manifest bad faith of a race of politicians capable of all trickery and which must be forever banned from the political scene. Seized of this grotesque offense, of an evident flagrancy and a fetid fragrance, the Constitutional Council draped in its robe of law that it could neither stain nor soil, annihilated this farce orchestrated by the highest authority of the country, supposed to ensure strict compliance with the Constitution. This bad farce that continues to unfold has exposed the character of this President of the republic who I had said did not deserve to be; which at the time had led to my summons to the Criminal Investigations Division, where, after my interrogation, I was charged with the following offenses: “insult to the head of state, dissemination of false news, and acts and maneuvers of a nature to destabilize institutions.”
The tenure of President Macky Sall will have been a long and very painful parenthesis, a parenthesis nonetheless, in the political history that has known great men, true statesmen. In his quest for absolute power, President Macky Sall has draped himself in the trappings of an autocrat who thought he could reign indefinitely over a people he believed subjugated, tamed, and resigned. Of all the Presidents of the republic, it is acknowledged by the majority of Senegalese that President Macky Sall is the most mediocre, the least competent, the least cultured, the least charismatic, and the furthest from his people. President Macky Sall has been the greatest violator of the laws and rules of the republic; he dared to replace the colors of the republic with those of his party on our coat of arms, the beige brown instead of the green-yellow-red. He thus consecrated the primacy of the party over the country, going against his famous slogan “the country before the party.”
I would like to conclude by quoting Souleymane Jules DIOP who, speaking of Macky Sall, said, “Macky party leader, there is a problem in Senegal; he whose greatest ambition was to become a department head. He is weak, incompetent, incapable, and intellectually shallow; to vote for Macky Sall is to elect Marième Faye.”
Dakar, March 9, 2024. Boubacar SADIO,
Retired Police Commissioner
Exceptional class
I have always ended my contributions with the phrase TERMINUS 2024. Today it will be TERMINUS 24-03-2024.”
Read the original article(French) on Dakar Matin
