Ousmane Sonko facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ousmane Sonko
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Sonko in 2023
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| 16th Prime Minister of Senegal | |
| Assumed office 3 April 2024 |
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| President | Bassirou Diomaye Faye |
| Preceded by | Sidiki Kaba |
| Leader of PASTEF | |
| Assumed office January 2014 |
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| General Secretary | Bassirou Diomaye Faye |
| Preceded by | Party established |
| Mayor of Ziguinchor | |
| In office 10 February 2022 – 6 May 2024 |
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| Preceded by | Abdoulaye Baldé |
| Succeeded by | Djibril Sonko |
| Member of the National Assembly of Senegal | |
| In office 14 September 2017 – 12 September 2022 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | 15 July 1974 Thiès, Senegal |
| Political party | PASTEF (2014—present) |
| Children | 6 |
| Parents |
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| Alma mater | Gaston Berger University |
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Ousmane Sonko (Wolof: Usmaan Sonko; born 15 July 1974) is a Senegalese politician and former tax inspector who is serving as the 16th prime minister of Senegal since 2024. He is also the leader of PASTEF ever since the party was founded in January 2014.
Sonko was the PASTEF candidate in the 2019 presidential election, ultimately placing third. A major figure in the Senegalese opposition against former president Macky Sall, his arrest and subsequent investigation by authorities in 2019 triggered mass protests and rioting across Senegal. In June 2023, he was sentenced to two years in prison, and in July 2023, his party PASTEF was dissolved by the Senegalese government.
Early life
Sonko was born in Thiès and spent his childhood in Sébikhotane and Casamance. His father was from Casamance and his mother was from Khombole.
Sonko received his baccalaureate in the year 1993, and graduated with a masters degree in Juridical Science from Gaston Berger University in Saint-Louis in 1999. He subsequently attended the National School of Administration and the Judiciary.
Prior to entering politics, Sonko worked for 15 years as a tax inspector in Pikine. In 2016, he acted as a whistle blower, exposing the use of offshore tax havens including a $50 million mineral sands processing plants used by a Canadian company to avoid paying $8.9 million in taxes. Sonko's employment as a tax inspector was terminated as a result of his whistleblowing. In 2018, he published Pétrole et gaz au Sénégal, a non-fiction book chronicling his findings.
Politics
In 2014, Sonko founded the African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity (French: Patriotes africains du Sénégal pour le travail, l'éthique et la fraternité, PASTEF). Between 2017 and 2022, he served as a member of the National Assembly.
In 2018, Sonko published Solutions, a book in which he put forward his political manifesto. He was a candidate in the 2019 presidential election, where he called for Senegal to replace the franc with a domestic currency. In the election, Macky Sall was re-elected, with Sonko placing third with 16% of the vote. During the lead up to the election, Sonko reported being targeted with anonymous smears aimed at discrediting his character.
In September 2021, Sonko launched the coalition "Free the People" (Wolof: Yewwi askan wi) with the aim of gaining seats in municipal and departmental councils controlled by parties within Macky's presidential coalition, United in Hope. During the 2022 local elections, Sonko was elected as Mayor of Ziguinchor. His coalition also managed to gain control of local councils from United in Hope, notably in Dakar, in addition to 56 of the 165 parliamentary seats in the National Assembly.
Prime Minister (2024–present)
Following the victory of his protégé, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, in the 2024 Senegalese presidential election, Sonko was appointed as Prime Minister of Senegal shortly after Faye's inauguration as president on 2 April 2024. Sonko formally presented his government on 5 April, which he described as a "breakaway" government symbolising "a systemic transformation voted for by the Senegalese people".
During his premiership, Sonko has criticised the French military presence in Senegal, as well as Western efforts to promote values deemed incompatible with Senegalese and African mores, including LGBT rights and monogamy. He has also called for a reform of ECOWAS for allowing divisions within the bloc to develop, which had led to the creation of the Alliance of Sahel States.
In September 2024, Sonko announced that a review of government finances under Macky Sall's presidency had found “widespread corruption” and manipulation of numbers in financial affairs, prompting Sonko to pledge further investigations.
See also
In Spanish: Ousmane Sonko para niños
