Senegal bans reggae star for criticising president
December 13, 2007 | Leave a Comment
recasts with Senegal declaring artist persona non grata)
By Daniel Flynn
DAKAR, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Senegal banned reggae star Tiken Jah Fakoly from the West African country on Wednesday after he strongly criticised President Abdoulaye Wade at a concert in Dakar and called on him to "leave power".
Fakoly, one of Africa’s best-loved musicians and famed for his outspoken criticism of the continent’s corrupt leaders, added his voice to rights groups who have accused the octogenarian Wade of becoming increasingly authoritarian.
The president’s critics say Senegal’s once-bright democratic credentials have been tarnished by Wade’s political manoeuvres to position his son to succeed him, the detention without trial of critical journalists and the diminishing power of parliament.
"Mr president, if you love Senegal, leave power!" Fakoly said during the concert on Wednesday, to rapturous cheers and applause from hundreds of Senegalese, before launching into his anthem for corrupt politicians "Quitte le pouvoir" — "Leave Power".
Wade, a long-time opposition leader elected in 2000, easily won re-election in February but has since angered many ordinary Senegalese by focusing on preparations for an Islamic conference next year, while ignoring pressing social problems.
The worst riots in decades erupted in Dakar last month when Wade ordered the removal of thousands of street sellers from the downtown area to ease traffic congestion. He has sheltered his son Karim, who is managing the infrastructure projects for the Islamic conference, from testifying before parliament.
"If you don’t want your son to be questioned by parliamentarians, you should not have involved him in running the country," said Fakoly, a long-time campaigner for peace in his native Ivory Coast, dressed in a long white robe emblazoned with maps of Africa.
The government of the poor former French colony, which has in the past expelled senior diplomats for public criticism of its policy, responded swiftly.
"Following the discourteous statements by the artist Tiken Jah Fakoly regarding our government, the artist is declared persona non grata in Senegal," read an Interior Ministry ruling broadcast on state television.
Despite Senegal’s relatively small economy and population, Wade has tried to compete with South African President Thabo Mbeki for leadership on African issues.
Last month, Wade launched an impassioned defence of President Robert Mugabe during a trip to Harare aimed at defusing Western criticism of human rights abuses in Zimbabwe. (Editing by Alistair Thomson and Sami Aboudi)
© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved. |
Reggae star Fakoly tells Senegal’s Wade “leave power”
December 13, 2007 | Leave a Comment
By Daniel Flynn
DAKAR (Reuters) - African reggae star Tiken Jah Fakoly, famed for his bitter criticism of the continent’s corrupt leaders, has turned his attention to Senegalese leader Abdoulaye Wade, calling on him bluntly to “leave power”.
Fakoly, one of Africa’s best-loved muscians and a campaigner for peace in his native Ivory Coast, added his voice to rights groups who have accused the octogenarian Wade of being increasingly authoritarian.
Political posturing aimed at positioning his son to succeed him, the detention without trial of critical journalists and the diminishing power of parliament have all tarnished Senegal’s once-bright democratic credentials, Wade’s critics say.
“Mr President, if you love Senegal, leave power!” Fakoly said during a concert in the capital Dakar late on Wednesday, to rapturous cheers and applause from hundreds of Senegalese, before singing his anthem for corrupt politicians “Quittes le pouvoir” — “Leave Power”.
Wade, a long-time opposition leader elected in 2000, easily won re-election in February but has since angered many ordinary Senegalese by focusing on preparations for an Islamic conference next year, while ignoring pressing social problems.
The worst riots in decades erupted in Dakar last month when Wade ordered the removal of thousands of street sellers from the downtown area to ease traffic congestion. He has sheltered his son Karim, who is managing the infrastructure projects for the Islamic conference, from testifying before parliament.
“If you don’t want your son to be questioned by parliamentarians, you should not have involved him in running the country,” said Fakoly, dressed in a long white robe emblazened with maps of Africa.
Despite Senegal’s relatively small economy and population, Wade has tried to compete with South African President Thabo Mbeki for leadership on African issues.
Last month Wade launched an impassioned defence of President Robert Mugabe during a trip to Harare aimed at defusing Western criticism of human rights abuses in Zimbabwe.
Senegal cuts cabinet by a quarter to save money
December 6, 2007 | Leave a Comment
By Nick Tattersall
DAKAR, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Senegal’s President Abdoulaye Wade cut the number of ministers in his government by more than a quarter on Tuesday in a belt-tightening show of solidarity with citizens hit by rising fuel and food prices.
Wade reduced the number of cabinet posts to 28 from 38, with the ministers of livestock farming, public hygiene and competitiveness among the casualties. The savings would be put into a "national solidarity fund", officials said.
"The aim is to make the state live more modestly and make significant savings on the budget," presidential adviser Hassan Ba told Reuters.
Octogenarian Wade pledged a month ago to trim his cabinet and cut ministerial salaries in a bid to "lessen the suffering" of the country’s poor, who have seen the price of basic goods like rice and bread rise sharply in recent months.
Riots swept the normally tranquil capital Dakar two weeks ago, with stone-throwing protesters complaining about widespread unemployment and rising prices at a time when the government is building luxury hotels and four-lane highways.
The unrest, which locals said was among the worst in recent years, was triggered when police tried to evict street vendors — most of them young men with no other way of making a living — from the pot-holed city centre.
The former French colony was one of the first countries in Africa to espouse multi-party politics in the 1970s and has long been regarded as a haven of stability in turbulent West Africa.
But diplomats, economists and rights groups are growing concerned about the increasingly intolerant style of Wade’s administration and about the transparency of public spending.
BLOATED BUREAUCRACY
Wade’s critics said the austerity measures, which include using energy-saving lightbulbs and internet telephony to halve the estimated 14 billion CFA francs ($30 million) spent by civil servants on phone calls each year, did not go far enough.
"The number of ministers we have is still well above the number in developed countries which are much larger in size and a lot more important than Senegal," Habib Sy, director of Senegalese anti-graft group Aid Transparency, t
© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved. |
Senegal’s democratic shine dims under Wade-groups
November 29, 2007 | Leave a Comment
By Nick Tattersall
DAKAR, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Senegal’s carefully polished reputation as a bastion of democracy in turbulent West Africa is dimming as its octogenarian leader, Abdoulaye Wade, grows increasingly autocratic, rights groups say.
Political posturing aimed at positioning his son to succeed him, the detention without trial of critical journalists and the diminishing powers of parliament all betray Senegal’s faltering democratic credentials, Wade’s critics say.
They say his obsession with hosting an international Islamic conference next year — a two-day event for which luxury hotels and new highways are being built in Dakar — have pushed more pressing social and economic problems off the political agenda.
“The Republic’s agenda is dominated in the short term by the organisation of the Islamic Summit and in the medium term by political manoeuvring around President Wade’s succession,” said Alioune Tine, head of African human rights group RADDHO.
“The presidential role has become an arch-institution which is not just overbearing but enslaving and subjugating all the other institutions, reducing them to dwarf status,” he told a news conference in Dakar on Wednesday.
Wade’s son, Karim, is an influential presidential adviser and head of the government agency managing the infrastructure projects for the Islamic conference, a role which has seen him increasingly involved in public debate and raised questions about his own political ambitions.
“This skilfully maintained veil of mystery (around Karim) allows his accomplices and henchmen to sow in the public mind the idea that the son of the head of state could legitimately succeed his father,” Habib Sy, director of Senegalese anti-graft group Aid Transparency, wrote in a local newspaper this month.
Wade’s spokesman has publicly denied that Karim is the president’s anointed successor.
WEAKENING PARLIAMENT
Senegal’s reputation for political stability has long made it a favourite among western donors and investors. It was one of the first African countries to espouse multiparty politics in the 1970s and is the only West African country other than the Atlantic archipelago of Cape Verde never to have seen a coup.
But riots swept across the capital last week after police tried to evict thousands of street vendors. The protests were fuelled by wider discontent over Wade’s perceived failure to address high youth unemployment and rising food prices.
Diplomats and local civil society groups have voiced growing concern over the increasing power of the presidency.
Macky Sall, the country’s parliamentary speaker, was unceremoniously sacked by Wade as deputy leader of the ruling PDS party two weeks ago after summoning Karim to appear before a finance commission charged with overseeing public spending.
Some political commentators fear Sall may now also lose his position as head of the national assembly.
“If he is removed from parliament as he has been from the party, it will totally ruin what credibility remains for the national assembly,” Tine said.
The senate is an even weaker balance against the power of the executive. The PDS won 34 of 35 seats in an August poll boycotted by the opposition, while the remaining 65 senators are appointed directly by Wade.
Journalists who have criticised Wade have found themselves jailed, triggering criticism from the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
“The government’s continued use of criminal defamation and insult laws to jail and prosecute journalists undermines Senegal’s democratic credentials,” it said this month after four journalists held for critical stories were provisionally freed. (Editing by Pascal Fletcher)
© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Democracy in Dakar: Episode 3 - Election Day
March 1, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Democracy in Dakar, Episode 3: Election Day
Sunday, February 25, 2007 - Election Day in Senegal, West Africa. Episode 3 takes place on election day and follows the group Sen Kumpe as they head to the voting station in their neighborhood Medina in Dakar to vote.
The episode continues in the immediate aftermath of the election, as people are sensing that Abdoulaye Wade may have won a slim majority in the election and avoided a run-off election.
Sen Kumpa close this episode with their track "Niawal"
Also featured are interviews with Sen Kumpa, Serigne Ndiaye, Matador (Wa BMG 44), Waa Complex Culture, and Leopold Senghor; as well as performances by: Matador, Sen Kumpa, Baat Sen, Waa Complex Culture, and Leopold Senghor.
Democracy in Dakar, Episode 2
February 27, 2007 | Leave a Comment
To view Episode 1, please click here. And don’t forget to get over to CurrentTV and vote this project onto real TV!
Democracy in Dakar, Episode 2
"Freedom of Speech"
In the second installment of this documentary series, several of the main candidates for President in Senegal are introduced against a backdrop of the campaigning on the street and the perspective of hip-hop crews from across Dakar.
The optimism that accompanies most elections is tempered with the reality of the emerging democracy in Senegal, including the suppression of criticism of the government, both through brute intimidation and more subtle means (bribery, lack of airplay, etc).
Episode 2 closes with the song "Yaa Tey" by Xuman, one of the most prominent political rappers from the group Pee Frois.
Sen Kumpa - Niawal - Video
January 27, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Technorati Tags: Senegal, Election, Hip-Hop, Youth, Rap, BBC, NPR, Nomadic, Wax, Notable, Hip-Hop, Documentary, Film, Herson, Cantor, Mcilvaine, Hip-Hop, Democracy, Globalization, Africa, Islam, West Africa, Revolution, New Media, Global Hip-Hop, African Hip-Hop, Benny Beats, Sen Kumpa
Fou Malade - “Thioukhna Kaye” - Music Video
December 29, 2006 | Leave a Comment
Abass - ‘Mo’F#&*%@!!’ - Music Video
December 29, 2006 | Leave a Comment
Nix “Rap Rekk” - Music Video
December 28, 2006 | Leave a Comment
