No squandering of public resources! The leader of the Patriotes of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity (PASTEF), Ousmane Sonko, reminded its militants of the moral foundations of the party in Tambacounda, this Saturday, May 9, 2021, during a session of distribution of food kits at the break of the fast, commonly called “ndogou”. Referring to the young people of the Alliance for the Republic (APR), the ruling party whose meeting turned into a confrontation, Ousmane Sonko says that it will never be a question of neither today nor tomorrow (once in power) to distribute public funds to activists.
The main Senegalese opponent, Ousmane Sonko, remains categorical in his positions. Coming to preside over a “ndogou” in the south of Senegal this Saturday, May 8, he returned to the foundations of patriotic and republican commitment. For him, one should not think that it is to earn money that one commits oneself in politics. Anyone who thinks he can achieve a certain social rise just because he is a Pastef activist can think again or go somewhere else. “It is often said that it is when people come to power and there are issues of money that they quarrel. In any case, there will never be any money issues with us because we will not distribute public money. The one who expects this has only to pack his bags,” said the third-place candidate in the 2019 presidential election. Indeed, for Ousmane Sonko, such practices would totally go against the principles for which Pastef is gaining the confidence of Senegalese.
So the activists are warned. The young people of the ruling party often clash because there is a significant economic issue. Moreover, the opponent is witness to these scenes of regrettable violence of the young people of the APR. “Earlier, on the way, I was shown the images of a meeting of young people in Tambacounda where the chairs were flying in all directions”, he said without fail to hold the Senegalese government to account.
Ousmane Sonko took advantage of these moments of devotion to forbid his activists the use of violence regardless of the level of contradiction. If Pastef aspires to a radical change in the way politics are done in Senegal, it must begin with the members themselves, he seemed to mean.
