Senegal, southern rebels ink deal to end one of Africa's oldest conflicts

Agreement signed in neighbouring Guinea-Bissau allows rebels fighting a separatist campaign in Casamance region since 1982 to lay down arms and work towards permanent peace.

Casamance, Senegal's southernmost region, is almost separated from the rest of the country by the tiny country of The Gambia. (TRTWorld)

Senegal has signed an agreement with rebels from the country's south who pledged to lay down their arms and work towards a permanent peace in the home of one of Africa's oldest active rebellions.

Rebel leader Cesar Atoute Badiate, head of a unit of the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC), and an emissary of Senegalese President Macky Sall signed the peace deal in Guinea-Bissau on Thursday.

Sall had made a "definitive peace" in the Casamance region one of the priorities of his second term.

"How many people died, (were) mutilated or left their village? We will accompany you in the search for peace," Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embalo told Badiate during the signing ceremony.

Embalo, who is also head of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), added: "I can assure you that we will be the guarantors of this agreement."

The signed document remains confidential for the time being.

"I welcome the peace agreement and laying down of arms signed this August 4 in Bissau between Senegal and the provisional committee of the political and combatant wings of the MFDC," Sall said on Twitter.

"I remain committed to the consolidation of lasting peace in Casamance," he added, thanking Embalo for his mediation.

READ MORE: Senegal launches military operation against rebels in south

Casamance's unstable past

Casamance, Senegal's southernmost region, is almost separated from the rest of the country by the tiny state of The Gambia. It has a distinct culture and language derived from its past as a former Portuguese colony.

The MFDC has led a low-intensity separatist campaign since 1982 that has claimed several thousand lives.

But the conflict was mostly dormant until Senegal launched a major offensive last year to drive out the rebels.

In a clash on January 24, four Senegalese soldiers were killed and seven were captured alive and taken across the border to The Gambia. The rebels released the hostages the following month.

In March, the army launched a new operation in which it claimed to have destroyed several rebel bases for the loss of one soldier and eight wounded.

READ MORE: Gunmen kill 13 in southern Senegal

Source: AFP

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Senegal ruling party claims victory in legislative elections

Senegal President Macky Sall's ruling coalition says it won 30 of the country's 46 administrative departments, giving it a majority in parliament following Sunday's legislative election.

Sunday's polls were an important test for Sall after local elections in March saw the opposition win in major cities, including Dakar, Ziguinchor in the south and Thies in the west. (AFP)

President Macky Sall's ruling coalition claimed victory in Senegal's legislative elections but the opposition rejected the assertion as a "prefabricated majority".

"We won 30 departments" out of the 46 in the west African country and overseas constituencies, Aminata Toure, head of the presidential coalition, told reporters late on Sunday.

"This undoubtedly gives us a majority in the National Assembly."

"We have given a majority in the National Assembly to our coalition president", Sall, she added, without giving the number of seats won by her camp or whether it was an absolute or relative majority.

Toure however acknowledged her coalition had been defeated in the capital Dakar in Sunday's vote.

The opposition was swift in rejecting Toure's claims.

Barthelemy Dias, a leader of the main opposition coalition headed by former presidential candidate Ousmane Sonko, spoke of "vulgar lies" and a "prefabricated majority" on private radio RFM.

The opposition had hoped the elections would impose a cohabitation, or divided government, on Sall and curb any ambitions he may have for a third term.

READ MORE: Senegalese voters head to polls in parliamentary elections

Senegal's opposition warns that people will take streets after President Macky Sall's ruling coalition wins a majority in parliament pic.twitter.com/5uvQp1wDfr

— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) August 1, 2022

Opposition collaboration

Some seven million Senegalese were eligible to vote in the election, which passed without any major incidents.

Turnout at several polling stations appeared relatively low, according to AFP news agency correspondents and observers, and the interior ministry said participation had reached 22 percent by 1 pm.

Provisional overall results are expected no later than Friday.

The national election commission has deployed 22,000 observers nationwide. Experts from the regional ECOWAS bloc were also present.

This year, eight coalitions were in the running, including Yewwi Askan Wi ("Liberate the People" in Wolof), the main opposition coalition of Sonko, which came third in the 2019 presidential election.

Ahead of the poll, Yewwi Askan Wi joined forces with Wallu Senegal ("Save Senegal"), led by former president Abdoulaye Wade.

The two groups agreed to work together to obtain a parliamentary majority and "force governmental cohabitation".

READ MORE: Senegal's president wins second term

READ MORE: Senegal launches military operation against rebels in south

Source: AFP

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