The President of Senegal Bassirou Diomaye Faye launched his new political party on Saturday July 25 in Dakar, formalizing his highly publicized break with his former mentor and ex-Prime Minister, Ousmane Sonko.
Ousmane Sonko heads the pan-Africanist party Pastef, to which both men belonged and which brought Bassirou Diomaye Faye to power in 2024. Upon his accession to the presidency, the latter had appointed Ousmane Sonko Prime Minister, but their relations gradually deteriorated, leading to the dismissal of the head of government in May.
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President Faye unveiled his new party, called “Kiiraay”, whose name means “protection” or “shield” in the Wolof language, during a conference in a large hotel in Dakar. Several hundred of his supporters, who could not fit into the conference room, waited outside in the scorching heat, holding signs and wearing decorative scarves that read “Long live Diomaye.”
Bassirou Diomaye Faye greets his supporters after a launching ceremony for Kiiraay, his new party, in the Almadies district of Dakar, July 25, 2026. © Seyllou, AFP
In announcing the creation of this new party, whose slogan is “Republican Patriots”, President Faye stressed that it was based on “the republic, ethics, transparency, fraternity and work”.
“Kiiraay is the majority party in this country”
Outside, Mamo Khady Sall, 43, who came with a group of 15 other women from Yeumbeul, a suburb of Dakar, praised a “man of peace”, admitting her aversion to Ousmane Sonko whose name she refuses to even pronounce.
Thanks to his pan-Africanist rhetoric, he attracted the support of many young Senegalese after a power struggle with former president Macky Sall, who governed from 2012 to 2024. Ousmane Sonko and Bassirou Diomaye Faye led a campaign focused on change, promising economic transformation, social justice and the fight against corruption.
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After “these two years in power, we see that the changes requested were not at all possible within the current framework” of the Pastef party, said Ibra Faye, an economist and financial engineer from Dakar, to AFP.
“Kiiraay is the majority party in this country,” President Faye told his supporters, highlighting mayors, sector leaders and figures from civil society during the gathering.
Recent resignations at Pastef
Several Pastef officials and activists recently announced their resignation to join the presidential camp. According to Bassirou Diomaye Faye’s communications team, the new party will hold a congress after the country’s summer rainy season.
Former Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko during a press conference in Dakar, June 2, 2026 in Senegal. © Seyllou, AFP
Bassirou Diomaye Faye essentially owes his presidency to Ousmane Sonko, his former mentor, who would certainly have become head of state if he had not been excluded from the race for the 2024 presidential election in this West African country due to a conviction for defamation.
The two men later fell out over differences over how Senegal should tackle its huge public debt and other political issues.
On May 22, Bassirou Diomaye Faye dismissed Ousmane Sonko from his post as Prime Minister. The latter’s allies immediately named him president of the National Assembly, and he remains the undisputed leader of Pastef, which controls 130 of the 165 seats in the single chamber of the Senegalese Parliament.
The National Assembly adopted a bill at the end of June aimed at reducing the powers of the president, in particular by prohibiting the head of state from leading a political party or a coalition of parties. However, the Constitutional Council invalidated this measure less than two weeks later.
With AFP
