Seydina Oumar Touré : « C'est Ousmane Sonko qui a tourné le dos au président Diomaye et exposé ses hommes »
Invited to Seneweb, Captain Seydina Oumar Touré, president of the Union for a Just Senegal (USJ), offered a frank analysis of the rift between President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and Ousmane Sonko. According to him, the responsibilities are clearly established: it was the PASTEF leader who distanced himself from the head of state and weakened the leaders of his own camp. When asked about the image of "man of the revolution" often attributed to Ousmane Sonko, Seydina Oumar Touré qualified this perception. In his view, a revolution primarily consists of transforming an existing system. "We changed a regime. If that is what a revolution is, then President Bassirou Diomaye Faye fully embodies it," he stated.
Captain Touré points out that throughout the presidential campaign, the message conveyed by the various components of the coalition was centered on the candidacy of Bassirou Diomaye Faye. "We cannot have asked the Senegalese people to elect Diomaye and then, today, claim that he is no longer the man we presented to the people," he argues. He also rejects the idea that Bassirou Diomaye Faye's nomination was the work of a single individual. "It is disrespectful to all the leaders working on the ground to suggest that a single man made this decision. Certainly, Ousmane Sonko had a convincing speech, but we all fought for it, and God intervened," he declares.
For Seydina Oumar Touré, if anyone deserves recognition today, it is the President of the Republic. "If there is a leader in this country, it is Bassirou Diomaye Faye," he declares, while praising Ousmane Sonko's decision to support his candidacy in 2024. "That gesture was an act of greatness. It shouldn't be ruined now," he adds. The former gendarmerie officer says he did not know either Bassirou Diomaye Faye or Ousmane Sonko personally before they came to power. He does recall, however, that Ousmane Sonko himself spent nearly half an hour praising the qualities of his political ally. "They worked together for over ten years. How can we discover in just two years all the things he is being criticized for today?" he asks.
He also dismisses accusations that the President of the Republic is being manipulated by his entourage. “If Bassirou Diomaye Faye were as easily manipulated as they say, the first person capable of manipulating him would have been Ousmane Sonko. There’s no need to look for a scapegoat,” he argues. According to him, the break is primarily attributable to the president of PASTEF. “It was Ousmane Sonko who turned his back on the Head of State. When you are Prime Minister, even if you are a party leader, there are certain statements you cannot make publicly about the President of the Republic. The Head of State should have protected his people within the government; on the contrary, he exposed them,” he asserts. As an example, he cites a trip Ousmane Sonko made to Touba, during which he publicly named several officials. “Some of them were subsequently summoned to the Presidential Palace.” "It gave the impression that he wanted to demonstrate that he was still in control of his men," he analyzes.
When questioned about the situation of Maty Sarr Niang, the Director General of the Agency for Community Safety Assistance (ASP) declined to comment on the specific case of one employee among more than a thousand staff members. He did, however, reiterate the principles governing the institution's operations. "As Director General, I can reorganize the structure's operations and evaluate the performance of each employee. We have internal regulations and a statute that define our missions," he explained.
He particularly emphasized the duty of discretion incumbent upon ASP agents. “Our status prohibits an agent from acting against the State. We report to the Ministry of the Interior, and all security forces are represented within the Agency. An agent must not attack the institutions of the Republic on social media. If someone wishes to adopt such a stance, they must have the dignity to resign,” Captain Touré stated firmly. He concluded by calling for the preservation of Senegal’s institutional foundations. “We are a young democracy. We have solid foundations that it is up to us to consolidate rather than weaken,” he concluded.
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