The President of Senegal, Bassirou Faye, launched a new party on Monday, formalising his break from the former Prime Minister, Ousmane Sonko, and the PASTEF party.
Mr Faye unveiled his party, Kiiraay, also known as the Republican Patriots party, at a gathering in the capital, Dakar, last week.
Kiiraay means “shield” in the local Wolof language. At the gathering on Saturday, the president described the party as “the majority party in this country.”
Mr Faye and Mr Sonko were once the twin faces of Senegal’s anti-establishment movement. Mr Sonko also played a key role in Mr Faye’s election as president.
However, the fallout between the two came to light after Mr Faye fired Mr Sonko as Prime Minister in May and replaced him with Ahmadu Lo, an economist and former banker at the Central Bank of West African States.
