By 𝔸bdulrazak Tomiwa

Hundreds of protesters including union members and opposition supporters, marched through Senegal’s capital, Dakar. The demonstration targeted the government’s perceived failure to deliver on campaign promises and the country’s worsening cost-of-living crisis.

The march was organized by major labour unions and the opposition coalition, the Front for the Defense of Democracy and the Republic (FDR). Union leaders accused the administration of breaking a 2023 agreement that had traded a strike freeze for better wages and working conditions.

Protesters expressed frustration with the leadership of President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko. Demonstrators wore red scarves and held signs demanding lower income taxes and the reinstatement of laid-off public sector workers, with some calling for the Prime Minister’s removal.

The government maintains that its hands are tied by a severe debt crisis inherited from the previous administration. A 2025 audit revealed a hidden debt of $13 billion, pushing Senegal’s debt-to-GDP ratio to 132%, which has stalled financial support from the International Monetary Fund.

Economic hardship has hit the youth particularly hard, fueling widespread discontent across the country. This latest protest follows a period of high tension, including a violent clash earlier in the year at a university where a student died during a protest over unpaid financial aid.

Union representatives also condemned recent mass firings at the national port, labeling them a political “purge” of workers tied to the former government. Meanwhile, activists urged the current administration to focus on economic revival rather than political disputes to stabilize the nation.