Gambiaj.com – (DAKAR, Senegal) – The political storm continues brewing within Senegal’s leadership following fresh revelations about the country’s concealed debt levels, an issue that has strained relations between President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, and Finance and Budget Minister Cheikh Diba, according to reporting by Jeune Afrique.
Sonko’s ‘Duty of Truth’ and the 120% Debt Claim
A few months after the Pastef-led government took office, Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko publicly accused former President Macky Sall’s administration of hiding the true scale of Senegal’s economic troubles.
At a September 2024 press conference, he claimed the country’s debt was closer to 120% of GDP, far higher than officially reported.
Sonko, insisting he had a “duty of truth” to the Senegalese people, pushed to publish the first report of the General Inspectorate of Finance (IGF), which allegedly detailed the hidden liabilities.
But according to Jeune Afrique, President Faye and Finance Minister Cheikh Diba strongly opposed revealing the information at the time, fearing the economic fallout.
Their concerns may have been justified: Senegal has since endured a series of credit downgrades from Moody’s and other ratings agencies, worsening its economic outlook.
Finance Minister Diba Tried to Resign
The conflict escalated behind closed doors. Citing senior government sources, Jeune Afrique reports that Cheikh Diba, once a senior technocrat under Macky Sall, submitted his resignation after learning that Sonko intended to publish the IGF findings.
“Ousmane Sonko refused the resignation, and the president convinced the Minister of Finance and Budget, with whom he is very close, to stay,” a Senegalese official familiar with the matter told the newspaper.
Diba’s background made him particularly wary of abrupt disclosure. He previously served as a technical adviser overseeing major projects in the Emerging Senegal Plan (PSE), later became coordinator of the IMF-backed economic program, and eventually rose to Director of the Budget under Macky Sall before joining Pastef.
Accusations of Obstruction Inside the Administration
Some officials interviewed by the newspaper accuse Diba and other former Sall-era technocrats now serving in the new government of deliberately slowing or complicating negotiations with the IMF, allegedly to prevent a full exposure of past financial decisions.
“There are obstacles within the administration,” a source told Jeune Afrique. “Some political figures who served under Macky Sall seem to have no interest in seeing the full truth come out. The hidden debt revealed by Ousmane Sonko was already known to them.”
A Government Divided as Economy Worsens
More than a year after Sonko’s announcement, Senegal finds itself navigating a highly fragile economic period marked by credit downgrades, tightened fiscal space, and growing public anxiety.
The dispute over the “hidden debt” has now laid bare deeper tensions within the Faye–Sonko partnership, raising questions about internal cohesion as the government attempts to stabilize the economy and renegotiate international financing.
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