Senegal's President Bassirou Diomaye Faye launched a new political party called Kiiraay, on Saturday, following his high-profile falling-out with his former mentor and ex-prime minister, Ousmane Sonko, and his party, Pastef.
Issued on: 28/07/2026 - 10:30
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The Senegalese President unveiled his Kiiraay party at a gathering in the capital Dakar on Saturday, describing it as "the majority party in this country". He was surrounded by a packed assembly of hundreds of supporters, who could not fit inside the hotel conference room and had to wait outside in searing heat, carrying signs and wearing decorative scarves that read "Vive Diomaye". Announcing the new party, whose slogan is "Republican Patriots", Diomaye Faye said it was built on "republic, ethics, transparency, fraternity and work". Kiiraay means "shield" or "protection" in the local Wolof language. Faye appoints cabinet despite Sonko's Pastef boycott threat New hope for some Waiting outside the launch venue in the heat, Mamo Khady Sall, 43, who came to the assembly with a group of 15 other women from the Dakar suburb of Yeumbeul, described Faye as a "man of peace". She said she disliked Sonko fiercely and refused even to say his name. Ibra Faye, an economist and financial engineer from Dakar, said he was hopeful Faye could implement some of those changes now that there was less discord within his administration.
