President Macky Sall's supporters celebrated on Monday when early results suggested he would win Credit/BBC

President Macky Sall’s supporters celebrated on Monday when early results suggested he would win Credit/BBC

 

President Macky Sall of Senegal re-elected

 

 

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Senegal’s President Macky Sall took 58% of all votes cast to win a second seven-year term following Sunday’s election.

He faced four challengers, but was accused of preventing some of his main rivals from running.

ALSO READ: 6.6 million Senegal voters test popularity of Sall ‘the builder’ 

Two well-known opposition figures were barred from taking part because of corruption convictions.

Sall was first elected in 2012. On the campaign trail, he focused on his record with infrastructure projects.

He has portrayed himself as a moderniser who has helped to boost economic growth to more than 6% a year, one of the highest rates in Africa.

However, critics say most ordinary Senegalese have not felt the benefits of these projects.

Khalifa Sall (no relation to the president), the popular former mayor of Dakar, and Karim Wade, the son of a former president, were unable to run after being found guilty of corruption.

As a result, neither the Socialist Party nor the Senegalese Democratic Party, which have dominated the country’s political landscape since independence, fielded presidential candidates.

Sall’s closest rival, former Prime Minister Idrissa Seck, got 21% of the vote.

In all, only five candidates were on the ballot paper, compared to 12 in the last election.

More than 6.6 million people were registered to vote in Sunday’s election, including some residents living abroad, and 66% turned out to cast their ballots.

Editorial Chief, Nigerian Bureau

Kings UBA is a Nigerian journalist and writer. I have reported for major local and international news organisations. I write satire. In 2017, I started contributing stories primarily to Discover Africa News Network. I can be reached on editorkingsuba@gmail.com. I currently manage Discover Africa News social media handles