Senegal Is A Bad Example For Africa

After the recent presidential elections in which the incumbent, Abdoulaye Wade, was unseated from office, a statement was made that Senegal should be seen as a good example for Africa. This should be so, apparently, because a sitting president conceded defeat in a presidential election, a rarity in Africa. There is no doubt that sitting presidents hardly concede defeat in an election in much of Africa. They often simply rig the thing from the beginning so that they may not have to deal with the small unpleasant issue of public wonder whether their leader actually won. This is the track taken by people such as Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Yahya Jammeh of the Gambia, Paul Biya of Cameroon, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, among others. However, Abdoulaye Wade, who was a champion for democratic values when he had not tasted the sweetness of power, convinced himself that he was still popular enough not to need such tried and tested method as rigging. He wanted to take it directly to the people in a free and fair election - he lost.

His acceptance of defeat, however, did not come easily. He had challenged the legality of the constitution, which he had sworn to defend, so as to go on as president of the Senegal. In this he was not different from the other rogues who have manipulated the constitution of their countries to prolong their unholy stay in power. The only difference with the case of Senegal is that when the old man, Wade, manipulated the constitution to contest elections again, the Senegalese people rose up and said "no". First, they protested on the streets of the country and many died in the process. When this did not work, they voted to remove the old man. If there is any good example from Senegal, it is the example of the people, not the example of Wade, who did not want to leave power. In all, Wade should be included on the list of rogue African leaders such as Mugabe, Jammeh, Museveni, Biya, and others.