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 |
| Occupation |
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Ousmane Sonko (Wolof: Usmaan Sonko) was born on July 15, 1974. He is a Senegalese politician and used to work as a tax official. Since 2024, he has been serving as the 16th prime minister of Senegal.
Sonko is also the leader of a political party called PASTEF. He helped start this party in January 2014. He ran for president in the 2019 presidential election and came in third place.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Ousmane Sonko was born in a city called Thiès in Senegal. He grew up in different places like Sébikhotane and Casamance. His father was from Casamance, and his mother was from Khombole.
He finished high school in 1993. Later, he earned a master's degree in law from Gaston Berger University in Saint-Louis in 1999. After that, he studied at the National School of Administration and the Judiciary.
Before becoming a politician, Sonko worked for 15 years. He was a tax inspector in Pikine. In this job, he helped find financial issues. He even wrote a book in 2018 called Pétrole et gaz au Sénégal about his findings.
Political Career
In 2014, Ousmane Sonko started his own political party. It is called the African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity (French: Patriotes africains du Sénégal pour le travail, l'éthique et la fraternité), or PASTEF for short. From 2017 to 2022, he was a member of the National Assembly, which is like the parliament of Senegal.
In 2018, Sonko published another book, Solutions. In this book, he shared his ideas for how he wanted to lead the country. When he ran for president in 2019, he suggested that Senegal should use its own money instead of the CFA franc. The election was won by Macky Sall, and Sonko received 16% of the votes.
In September 2021, Sonko created a group called "Free the People" (Wolof: Yewwi askan wi). Their goal was to win more seats in local government councils. In the 2022 Senegalese local elections, Sonko was elected as the Mayor of Ziguinchor. His group also won control of local councils in other important cities, including Dakar. They also gained 56 out of 165 seats in the National Assembly.
Public Events and Support
In March 2021, Sonko was involved in public events that led to protests. These events caused clashes between police and students in cities like Dakar. Many people around the world also showed their support for Sonko. For example, there was a protest outside the United Nations headquarters in New York City, United States.
Leaders like Alioune Badara Cissé asked for peace and calm during these times. The Economic Community of West African States also called for everyone to be calm and for the government to allow people to protest peacefully.
In July 2023, there were more public events and protests. The Senegalese government later removed TikTok from the country for a short time. This was done to control information during the protests. In October 2023, a court decided that Ousmane Sonko could be on the election lists again. He was officially put back on the lists in December 2023 and was released in March 2024.
Prime Minister (2024–present)
After his close friend, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, won the 2024 Senegalese presidential election, Sonko was chosen for an important role. He became the Prime Minister of Senegal shortly after Faye became president on April 2, 2024.
On April 5, Sonko announced his new government. He said it was a "breakaway" government. This meant it would bring big changes that the people of Senegal wanted.
As Prime Minister, Sonko has talked about the French military presence in Senegal. He has also discussed Western ideas that he believes do not fit with Senegalese and African traditions. He has also called for changes to ECOWAS, which is a group of West African countries.
In September 2024, Sonko announced that his government had looked into how money was managed by the previous president, Macky Sall. He said they found "widespread corruption" and problems with financial numbers. Sonko promised that there would be more investigations into these findings.
Images for kids
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A robot for kids.
See also
In Spanish: Ousmane Sonko para niños
