Senegal President Macky Sall says he will not run for re-election in the 2024 elections, he said in a Twitter post on Monday Night.
He has set the record straight to debunk the widespread speculation that he would seek a third term, which his critics said would have been illegal.
Rumors that Sall would try to extend his stay in power have fuelled bouts of deadly unrest since 2021 in which dozens have been killed, and shaken Senegal’s reputation as a bastion of stable democracy in West Africa.
“My dear compatriots, my long and carefully considered decision is not to be a candidate in the next election of February 25, 2024. And this, even if the constitution gives me the right to do so”.
“The 2019 term was my second and last term,” Sall said in a televised speech as quoted by Reuters. “I have deep respect for the Senegalese people”.
The latest riot was fueled last month when opposition leader Ousmane Sonko was sentenced to two years in jail on charges arising from the alleged rape and ‘corrupting youth’.
He said these are politically motivated, the accusations are ways to deny him from running in the 2024 elections.
