Popenguin Ndayane is my hometown.
This small fishing village on Senegal's Atlantic coast, about 100 km (62 miles) from Dakar, the capital, is a pilgrimage site for the country's Christian minority.
For the past 135 years, pilgrims, including the Pope, have come here to pray at the site where the Black Virgin is said to have appeared.
Some believe that miracles occur in this village.
It is a place where sick people come to be healed.
Politicians also come here for elections.
Their campaigns include blaring Mubaraks music, a popular Senegalese dance tune, free T-shirts, and sometimes large sums of cash and the promise that “if you vote for us, your despair will turn to hope.” is provided.
“Politicians think they can perform miracles,” one neighbor says sarcastically.
But Senegalese voters are not fooled.
Macky Salle's presentation
Voting has been a tradition in Senegal since before French colonial rule, and it has been the only time there has been a peaceful transition of power, from poet and president Léopold Sedar Senghor to current president Macky Sall.
It's a source of pride for Senegal, which is surrounded by countries ruled by military regimes. Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali – former French colonies in West Africa that have become democracies are collapsing one after another. This domino effect saved this small coastal nation of about 17 million people.
Located in the westernmost tip of Africa, Senegal remains a bastion of democracy.
But then, on a Saturday afternoon in early February, just hours before the presidential campaign was scheduled to begin, reporters were told that the president would address the nation.
A colleague of mine called me because he sensed a problem. We waited in disbelief. We watched an old man play traditional instruments until the president was ready to speak.
Hours had passed. It seemed like an ominous omen or a distraction.
Afterwards, the national anthem was played and President Sall appeared.
The entire nation, including my colleague, her husband, and their dog, listened in silence as the president made history for all the wrong reasons.
He had called off the presidential election, thereby plunging Senegal into uncertainty.
“Planning a constitutional coup”
The president claimed that the process by which the country's Constitutional Council drew up the list of candidates for the election was flawed. He also said that judges on the council were suspected of accepting bribes to exclude candidates from the elections, which cast doubt on the results of the vote.
Some people gave up and sighed. Some people exploded in anger. My dog was furious and barked.
But we saw it coming.
Months before the polls, Mr. Sall, always an astute politician, had remained vague about whether he would run for president a third time.
Julie Sagna watched Sal's speech from home.
The 32-year-old had never taken the time to vote. But when Senegal's security forces stormed parliament and forced opposition members out, she realized that her basic rights, which she had long taken for granted, were being taken away from her.
“I couldn’t believe it,” she said.
“The president is orchestrating a constitutional coup to extend his term in office!”
Sanya took to TikTok to fight back. Some clashed with security forces.
After political maneuvering and street protests, the Constitutional Council intervened and announced a new election date of March 24.
The election period was shortened to two weeks, but voting was scheduled to take place before Sall's presidential term ends on April 2.
campaign in progress
Meanwhile, Sall, watching his reputation crumble on the international stage, signed an amnesty bill to free what human rights groups call political prisoners. Thousands of people were released, including opposition leader Ousmane Sonko and election candidate Bashir Diomai Fay of the banned party Pastef.
But the campaign began without him.
Amadou Bah, the ruling party's candidate and former prime minister, took the lead in reaching out to voters.
Mr. Barr crisscrossed the country with an army of bodyguards and a well-funded state apparatus supporting him. Several reputable Western PR firms were also tasked with making him look like a member of the people and ready to bring stability.
Ba, a former national tax inspector who became prime minister, is an experienced civil servant. However, he has never been elected to parliament. In the 2022 parliamentary elections, he lost to a candidate from the banned PASTEF party in his local constituency Parcel Assinese. But despite his defeat, he is President Sal's chosen candidate.
Critics describe Mr. Ba as a “billionaire civil servant” worth billions of dollars in West Africa's local currency, the CFA franc, while opposition parties say he is trying to make money by becoming president. He is accusing him of being a corrupt politician.
Bassiro Diomaye Faye, a former employee of Mr. Ba and also a tax auditor, is running against Mr. Ba after his recent release.
A week-long campaign, backed by opposition strongman Ousmane Sonko, catapulted Fay from an unknown candidate to political stardom. He was seen waving a traditional broom on top of his car, symbolizing his intention to cleanse the country of corruption and lead it to victory. As an anti-establishment candidate, Fay is calling for an overhaul of the political system.
For many young people, including Julie Sagna, Fay is a break from the past that young people feel is necessary to move the country forward.
Where to win elections
In Mbour, not far from the pilgrimage village of Popenguin-Ndayan, Fay held his final election rally in front of a raucous crowd.
Many of the participants were young men. It is unclear whether they will vote in Sunday's election. Many people do not have voter registration cards.
Those who did not participate in Fay's gathering were a key demographic: Senegalese women from the countryside.
Their votes could decide the outcome.
“Elections are won in Senegal, deep in the countryside and under village trees, away from the hustle and bustle of the capital and the roaring caravans of candidates,” a traditional village healer told me.
In Popenguin Ndayane, local women discuss a country they feel is no longer theirs. In 2023, mainly young Senegalese men traveled illegally to Europe in record numbers. They traveled in search of work despite the country's booming economy. Popenguin Ndayane's mother and sisters don't want to see their son and brothers leave home.
Like the Black Madonna worshiped here by pilgrims, Senegalese women can also perform miracles during election time.
But more than the free T-shirts and cash they're given to get votes, what they want more than anything is certainty in uncertain times.
