Senegal’s President Abdoulaye Wade and his son Karim Wade (Picture: VOA News).
Mobhare Matinyi, Washington DC. The Citizen, Friday, 24 February 2012.
Senegal, once a stable African nation and one of the continent’s oldest democracies, is currently facing the hardest time in its modern history. It is struggling to either keep or fire its ageing president, Abdoulaye Wade, in this Sunday’s presidential polls.
Assuming that recent claims backed by strong evidence including a narration by Wade’s bed-ridden classmate, are true and correct, then President Wade is the world’s oldest leader, in his early 90s, beating Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe who marked his 88th birthday this Tuesday.
Officially, Wade’s birthday is recorded as March 29, 1926 making him the world’s fourth oldest leader at about 86 years of age but even this age is too advanced for Senegalese whose life expectancy is about 59 years with only 2.9 per cent of the population currently 65 years and over.
But old age isn’t a sin especially in Africa where elders are cherished as wise leaders. The problem is that Wade has been in power since year 2000 and he wants another five years at a time when people believe he has outlived his usefulness.
Worse still, he seems to want his unpopular son, Karim Wade, 43, to inherit power after him. Karim, born to a French mother, and married to a French woman until 2009 when she passed away, and trained as a financial analyst in France, is indeed a privileged man. In 2002 he started as his father’s adviser.
Then in 2004 his father appointed him to the powerful position of President of the National Agency for the Organization of the Islamic Conference to supervise multi-million infrastructure projects. The younger Wade burst the budget.
Karim is also known as the Senegalese super minister because of running four ministries since May 2009, namely international cooperation, regional development, air transport, and infrastructure. Note that this is not one large ministry, but rather four different cabinet portfolios.
Karim’s portfolios control over 40 percent of the government budget and he is known in diplomatic circles as Mr 15 Per Cent because of the kickbacks he always demands. Despite all the privileges and money, as an elected politician he is only a ward councillor and at one time failed to win a mayoral election in the capital Dakar.
Worse still, he seems to want his unpopular son, Karim Wade, 43, to inherit power after him. Karim, born to a French mother, and married to a French woman until 2009 when she passed away, and trained as a financial analyst in France, is indeed a privileged man. In 2002 he started as his father’s adviser.
Then in 2004 his father appointed him to the powerful position of President of the National Agency for the Organization of the Islamic Conference to supervise multi-million infrastructure projects. The younger Wade burst the budget.
Karim is also known as the Senegalese super minister because of running four ministries since May 2009, namely international cooperation, regional development, air transport, and infrastructure. Note that this is not one large ministry, but rather four different cabinet portfolios.
Karim’s portfolios control over 40 percent of the government budget and he is known in diplomatic circles as Mr 15 Per Cent because of the kickbacks he always demands. Despite all the privileges and money, as an elected politician he is only a ward councillor and at one time failed to win a mayoral election in the capital Dakar.
To make sure that he retains power and guards the future of his son, in June 2011 Wade proposed a change in the electoral law that would lower the percentage of votes that a presidential contender requires to win without a run-off from 50 per cent to 25 per cent.
Wade also attempted to amend constitution to establish the position of vice president. From common African experience, the Senegalese knew for sure that Wade was trying to appoint his son the Vice President, effectively making him an automatic heir to the “throne”.
So since January the Senegalese have gone mad because they don’t want Karim despite his good looks, shining bald head, and designer suits. Certainly, the people of Senegal are smart enough to realize that although handsome men may make attractive grooms, they do not necessarily make good leaders. Bravo!
Wade also attempted to amend constitution to establish the position of vice president. From common African experience, the Senegalese knew for sure that Wade was trying to appoint his son the Vice President, effectively making him an automatic heir to the “throne”.
So since January the Senegalese have gone mad because they don’t want Karim despite his good looks, shining bald head, and designer suits. Certainly, the people of Senegal are smart enough to realize that although handsome men may make attractive grooms, they do not necessarily make good leaders. Bravo!
But how did the matters get to this stage? Wade, who has been the leader of his party, the Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS), since its inception in 1974, became the third president of Senegal in 2000 after vying for the position for 22 years.
Wisely, in 2001 the constitution was amended to establish a two-term limit of five years each ending the limitless seven-year system. So in 2007 Wade ran for his second term winning a disputed election that saw the opposition boycotting parliamentary elections later in that year.
Surprisingly, Wade came out in 2011 claiming that the 2001 amendments did not apply to his first term, then went to court and in January 2012 the country's highest court ruled that he was eligible to run for a third term. It was at this juncture that Senegal exploded into violent protests.
Wade may have done a great job for his country during his years in office as nearly every economic indicator went up. According to World Bank statistics, life expectancy went from 56 to 59, literacy percentage rose to 50 from 39 and according to Dakar statistics, the number of public hospitals increased from 17 to 35, the number of doctors from 350 to 1,016 and the number of midwives from 558 to 1,032.
But looking from another angle, this is what any president ought to do; this wasn’t a favour as many African leaders would want to portray.
Wisely, in 2001 the constitution was amended to establish a two-term limit of five years each ending the limitless seven-year system. So in 2007 Wade ran for his second term winning a disputed election that saw the opposition boycotting parliamentary elections later in that year.
Surprisingly, Wade came out in 2011 claiming that the 2001 amendments did not apply to his first term, then went to court and in January 2012 the country's highest court ruled that he was eligible to run for a third term. It was at this juncture that Senegal exploded into violent protests.
Wade may have done a great job for his country during his years in office as nearly every economic indicator went up. According to World Bank statistics, life expectancy went from 56 to 59, literacy percentage rose to 50 from 39 and according to Dakar statistics, the number of public hospitals increased from 17 to 35, the number of doctors from 350 to 1,016 and the number of midwives from 558 to 1,032.
But looking from another angle, this is what any president ought to do; this wasn’t a favour as many African leaders would want to portray.
On the other hand half of the Senegalese population still lives in abject poverty as corruption and nepotism taint Wade’s government in the middle of a severe energy crisis.
Let us wait and see what Sunday’s presidential polls will do for Senegal. Sadly, for purely selfish reasons, Wade, a highly educated man, is destroying a beautiful African country.
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