Gambiaj.com – (DAKAR, Senegal) – Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has taken a firm but measured step to assert his authority within his administration, using the weekly Council of Ministers meeting to defend his decision to replace Aïda Mbodji with Aminata Touré as head of the “Diomaye Président” coalition and to announce the dismissal of a senior official close to Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko.
According to Senegalese media reports, President Faye spoke at length during the cabinet meeting, calmly but decisively explaining the rationale behind his recent political reshuffle.
With characteristic composure, he reaffirmed that the coalition that brought him to power remains intact, while emphasizing his constitutional and political responsibility to ensure its effective functioning.
The President recalled that on September 10 he had written to Aïda Mbodji, then coordinator of the coalition, to alert her to the need for a restructuring aimed at making the movement “more operational and better aligned with its founding vision.”
Addressing the ministers, Faye clarified that he had never dissolved the coalition, contrary to certain political interpretations, and underscored that “no one had ever heard or seen him formalize such a decision.”
“Without mincing words, but in a very courteous manner, Bassirou Diomaye Faye was keen to clarify that he, as president of the coalition, never dissolved it,” the reports said, quoting cabinet sources who described the President’s tone as “calm but unambiguous.”
The meeting notably took place in the absence of Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, who is officially on a two-week leave.
While the President made no mention of any disagreements with his Prime Minister, observers noted that the cabinet session marked a quiet but deliberate moment of reassertion of presidential authority following tensions sparked by PASTEF’s communiqué contesting the dismissal of Aïda Mbodji.
In the same session, President Faye announced the removal of Amadou Guèye, Director General of the Industrial Promotion Agency (APROSI) and a known ally of Sonko.
The dismissal coincides with an ongoing investigation into the agency’s management by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, initiated after MP Guy Marius Sagna submitted a written question to the government in July.
According to the ministry’s official response, auditors have been examining alleged irregularities since July 16, including the rental of a vehicle for 4.7 million CFA francs per month over ten months, the allocation of 500 extra liters of fuel beyond the usual allowances, and costly business trips.
While the Presidency did not link Guèye’s removal directly to the probe, the move is seen as part of Faye’s broader effort to tighten control over key administrative institutions and reinforce standards of governance within his coalition government.
Political analysts in Dakar view this week’s cabinet as a defining moment for President Faye, who, almost two years into his term, appears intent on consolidating authority and setting clear boundaries between political loyalty and institutional accountability.
“With calm determination, President Faye is showing that he intends to govern firmly but fairly,” one political observer told local media. “This was a message not only to his ministers but to his entire coalition.”
