Senegal's restless Casamance region sees deadly protests

Senegal had planned presidential elections to take place on February 25. However, the parliament has since voted to push back the vote until December 15.

Senegalese President Macky Sall announced the delay on February 3, just one day before the election campaign was scheduled to get underway across the West African nation.

Sall said he postponed the vote because of a dispute between parliament and the Constitutional Court over the rejection of some candidates.

Deaths: 'It's sickening'

Protesters took to the streets in response to Sall's decision to delay the elections. Police used tear gas against the demonstrators, and authorities suspended mobile internet services.

Sixteen-year-old Landing Camara was shot in the head during protests in recent days.

The boy's uncle told DW that his nephew died hours later at a hospital in Ziguinchor, a town in Senegal's southern region of Casamance.

Camara's family was still awaiting autopsy results to confirm the cause of his death. 

"It's very difficult," the uncle said. "It's sickening. He was an adolescent and was killed in cold blood. What's happening in this country is regrettable." 

Two other youths have died following protests in the capital, Dakar, and northern city of Saint-Louis since Friday.

In Dakar, a 23-year-old was shot "in the stomach with a live round," his brother who was with him told the AFP news agency. 

The circumstances around the death of a 22-year-old at a university campus in Saint-Louis remain unclear.

"The youth had gone out massively to pick up their election cards," said Madia Diop Sane, coordinator of the citizen-based movement Vision Citoyenne.

Protests also broke out in June following the conviction of Ousmane Sonko, the jailed opposition leader, who formerly represented the PASTEF party, which has been disbanded by authorities. At least 16 people were killed during the unrest. 

Sonko designated opposition candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye to replace him on the ballot paper, raising hope among Senegalese voters that Faye would be the country's next president.

Sonko grew up in Casamance, a part of the country that has a culture distinct from the rest of Senegal.

Casamance is also geographically separated from the rest of the country by The Gambia.

People had been eagerly waiting to express themselves at the ballot box, Sane said. "Everyone was telling themselves that it will be over soon, that all that was left was February 25, which would, maybe, bring about the true change we need."

Casamance cut off

Following the protests in June, authorities halted the ferries that run between Casamance and the rest of the country. Road transport, the main alternative, is lengthy, dangerous and expensive — and few can afford the cost of flying.

"The boat had a freezing room, but now we have to use the vehicles — and sometimes they don't have a fridge," said Moussa Bari, a fishmonger working near the port.

"If the produce arrives rotten, he said. "We lose everything." Moussa Bari used to earn about 30,000 francs (€45/$49) for a box of seafood. He said his revenue had been cut by more than half.

"There is not enough clientele here to sell the stock," said Anoune Mbengue, head of communication for the Ziguinchor branch of PASTEF, "so this will be felt until the housewives' shopping basket."

Mbengue said authorities failed to come up with consistent justifications for the halt in ferry services.

"For something so vital, they should at least explain the reason," he said.

But the feeling of being sidelined is not new in Casamance, a fertile region where fruits grow abundantly and whose natural beauty attracts tourists from all over the world.

For some, its potential is not being exploited to its full capacity because the government failed to invest in infrastructure and factories. Youth unemployment is also rampant, creating frustration.

Casamance's rebel conflict 

"There's no real intention from the state to provide the Casamance youth with a certain level of comfort," Sane said.

Casamance has seen four decades of fighting between separatist rebels from the MFDC (Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance) and Senegal's government.

The conflict has left 60,000 displaced people and nearly 5,000 victims — including hundreds of deaths from land mines.

It has also largely contributed to slowing down the development of the region. Companies left, young men went to the front line of the fighting and villagers were abandoned, leaving arable land empty and uncultivated.

Ousmane Sonko, the mayor of Ziguinchor, who founded the PASTEF in 2014, promised to lift Casamance out of its torpor and transform the region into a "regional financial hub." 

In a public speech in Ziguinchor, he said that "Casamance should be center of Senegal" and emphasized the region's trade potential with neighboring countries such as Guinea Bissau.

But Sonko's support base goes well beyond the borders of Casamance. All over the country, he seduced the youth through engaging speeches focused on unemployment, the fight against corruption and cutting economic and political ties with France, Senegal's former colonizer.

Edited by: Keith Walker