Hundreds of Senegalese demonstrated in Dakar on Friday to demand legal action after numerous irregularities were found in a report by the Court of Auditors on the management of anti-Covid funds.
A large police force was deployed around the square to supervise the rally, which was authorised by the prefect and supported by the opposition, which has repeatedly denounced the authorities’ “theft” in recent days.
The government has defended itself by stressing that the reported shortcomings concern less than one percent of the total amount of the fund and has promised to follow the recommendations of the Court of Auditors.
The demonstrators also chanted the name and called for the release of Pape Alé Niang, a journalist detained for more than a month for “disclosing information likely to harm the national defence”, who was released and then returned to detention on 20 December.