Joola shipwreck: Mohamed Lamine Manga deplores a "trivialization" of the tragedy

Twenty-four years after the sinking of the ferry Le Joola , historian Mohamed Lamine Manga believes that Senegalese people have not sufficiently learned the lessons of this collective tragedy. A guest on the program "Grand Jury" this Sunday, September 27, 2026, this lecturer and researcher in Modern and Contemporary History at Assane Seck University in Ziguinchor strongly deplored a kind of "trivialization" of the event. "It's as if Senegalese people haven't learned the lesson ," he lamented, specifically targeting the role assigned to the memorial dedicated to the victims.

According to the academic, the memorial infrastructure, in its current form, fails to convey the full symbolic and historical dimension of the tragedy. "This place gives the impression of representing the memory of the deceased in a dignified manner, but a profound void remains that prevents one from grasping its true significance ," he analyzes.

Furthermore, the author of the book "La Casamance dans l'histoire contemporaine du Sénégal" reiterates his call for the salvage of the wreck, seeing it as a major heritage and memorial imperative. "Heritage is an essential lever for learning from the past ," he affirms, recalling that the ship now rightfully belongs to the nation's heritage and collective consciousness.

As the ceremonies for the 24th commemoration were held this Saturday, September 26th, in Ziguinchor, the government reaffirmed its commitment to the duty of remembrance. Prime Minister Ahmadou Al Aminou Lô notably announced that the legal and institutional status of the Memorial Museum would be clarified by the end of the year.