Politics in SENEGAL and Liberia Presidential election run-off

The show in this edition starts with the political development in Senegal, as the political saga surrounding the detained opposition politician Ousmane Sonko took a new twist, with a provincial judge appearing to reinstate him in next year’s presidential race.

Now, A magistrate from a district court in the southern city of Ziguinchor on Thursday evening ordered that Sonko — who has had a series of legal woes since 2021, often leading to violent protests — be reinstated on the electoral lists for the February 2024 vote.

Our guests, Mamadou Thior – Political Analyst and Dr Pape Chérif Bertrand Bassène, Professor of History at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, weigh in on this development.

Also, Liberia remains a talking point following the planned presidential election run-off.

Incumbent President George Weah and Unity Party Opposition Joseph Boakai have gone neck-and-neck. As it is, a candidate must obtain more than 50% of the votes to win.

The NEC has reported that out of the total 1,947,780 votes cast (99.93% of the total), a staggering 114,597 were invalidated, accounting for 5.8% of the total, while 1,833,189 votes were deemed valid (94.1%). These have raised questions about the voter education level.

Some observe that the ballot papers were unusually long, posing a risk of ink bleeding through the paper when voters marked their choices and folded them, potentially invalidating their votes.

Adama Dempster – Secretary General of the National Civil Society Human Rights Advocacy Platform of Liberia and Abdullah Kiatamba – An Independent Analyst, weigh in on these issues raised.

Regards,