Trouble is escalating in the North-West African French-speaking country of Senegal following the conviction and sentencing of the leading youthful opposition leader Ousmane Sonko. Ousmane is the leader of the PASTEF - Patriots party and he ran in the past election for presidency where he finished 3rd in an election won by the current Senegalese president Macky Sall.
The opposition leader was accused of the crime of corrupting the youth who are young people under the age of 21 years and also a rape charge that was finally thrown out. He was sentenced to 5 years in prison with an alternative fine of $6000. Ousmane has not appeared in public nor issued a public statement since the sentencing. It is until now not known when he will be arrested to start serving the sentence.
Reports from security agencies have indicated more than 15 deaths in the last five days of protests while hundreds have been injured. The capital city Dakar is experiencing more violent street demonstrations than the rest of the country. International bodies are calling for calm and soberness even though it is alleged that this move is meant to prevent Mr. Ousmane from running in the presidential elections in 2024.

Elections in Sierra Leone
#Elections #SLPP #APC #Salone
A multi-layered election is coming up in Sierra Leone on 24th June 2023. The main political parties are SLPP led by Dr. Maada Bio the current president and APC led by Dr. Samura Kamara the current opposition leader.
Several elections are being conducted for several political seats including the presidency, the provincial, mayoral, and members of parliament elections on the same day.
As usual, many challenges have been highlighted by both the opposition party, APC, and activists following the delayed registration of voters, and the contentious national census done last year. Allegations were made of numbers intentionally edited to give an impression that Kenema district the stronghold of the current administration had a higher population than the capital Freetown. It is now a matter of waiting to see the outcome of the elections and how acceptable it will be for Sierra Leonians currently burdened by a battered economy and increasing difficulty to afford basic needs.