Senegal to Call Former President Macky Sall to Court Over Financial Mismanagement

Senegal is set to summon former President Macky Sall to court following revelations of financial irregularities during his administration, according to a government spokesperson on Friday.

The former president, who served from 2012 to 2024, is accused of overseeing what has been described as a “catastrophic” mismanagement of public finances. An independent audit report has called into question the official financial figures from his tenure, significantly revising both national debt and the public deficit upwards.

Sall, now residing in Morocco after leaving office last year, has dismissed the controversy surrounding the report, labeling it a “political” issue.

Government spokesman Moustapha Sarre stated that Sall, who held power for over a decade, could be viewed as the head of a group responsible for serious criminal acts. “He will inevitably face justice. He is the main person accountable for these grave offenses,” Sarre said in an interview with RFM.

The audit, published on February 12, uncovered several discrepancies, including a 2023 budget deficit of 12.3 percent, more than double the 4.9 percent figure previously reported under Sall’s administration.

Following Sall’s departure, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, elected last March, has committed to distancing his government from the mistakes of the past. Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, a longstanding critic of Sall, pledged last September to investigate what he described as “widespread corruption” during the former president’s rule.

In recent months, several former officials, including a lawmaker with ties to Sall, have been arrested and charged with fraud and money laundering.