Heavy clashes between protesters and police have been reported in the Senegalese capital, Dakar. Protesters responded to calls from civil society and a coalition of political parties against President Macky Sall’s decision to postpone the presidential election from February 25 to December 15, 2024.
Crowds gathered in Dakar at Place de la Nation, and in several other districts of Dakar, on Friday afternoon, February 8. The demonstrations are the start of a campaign demanding the resignation of the Sall government. Earlier on Friday morning, teachers set the tone with walkouts in schools. At the Blaise Diagne High School in Dakar, hundreds of students left their classes at 10 am.
Sources at the scene of the demonstrations say clashes broke out between police and groups of young people who had planned to gather near the Place de la Nation in Dakar, a few kilometres from the city centre.
There are reports that the police used live ammunition against the protesters, resulting in the death of a student from Gaston Berge University in Saint-Louis.
The police also fired tear gas canisters on the demonstrators as they also arrested many people, including journalists reporting on the events.
A new collective of citizen groups, religious people and professional organisations had earlier called on citizens to go to Friday’s weekly Muslim prayer dressed in white and the national colours. Messages were also circulated widely on social networks calling for Dakar residents to demonstrate from 3 pm on the vast Place de la Nation.
The protests illustrate the extent and the strength of actions being taken by the Senegalese people. Senegalese political watchers say these protests are the biggest since independence in 1960.
Many have voiced concerns over the possible spread of the demonstrations to other parts of the country, stirring further instability. The Senegalese government has been called upon to take urgent steps to address public demands that would ease tensions.
