Africa News of Thursday, 29 February 2024

Source: bbc.com

Senegal leader confirms departure date

President Macky Sall says his term will end as planned on 2 April President Macky Sall says his term will end as planned on 2 April

Senegal's president has confirmed that he will stand down when his term expires on 2 April.

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, President Sall noted that a "national dialogue" had called for the election to be held on 2 June.

This date has not been confirmed.

"My departure is absolutely firm," he said.

It's unclear who would lead the country after Mr Sall steps down.

The election was due on 25 February, but the president tried to delay it until December so that disputes over the eligibility of other candidates could be resolved.

This led to violent protests across the normally stable West African country.

But the country's top court said the delay was unconstitutional and called for the election to be held "as soon as possible".