President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and his two wives pose for photographs after his swearing-in as Senegal’s President at an exhibition center in the new town of Diamniadio near the capital Dakar on April 2, 2024.
Following his release from jail less than two weeks prior to the March 24 election, Faye was sworn in as the new president on Tuesday, capping the opposition figure’s remarkable rise from the prison to the palace in recent weeks.
Faye pledged to combat corruption and restructure the economy in his inaugural address as the incoming president.
Faye is a small town resident and devout Muslim. He has two wives, both of whom were present on Tuesday.
He demonstrated transparency by releasing a disclosure of his assets prior to the election and urging other contenders to follow suit. It featured a house in Dakar, as well as properties in his hometown and outside the capital. There were about $6,600 in his bank accounts.
“I think the first challenge is the formation of his (Faye’s) government,” said Alioune Tine, founder of the Senegalese think tank Afrikajom Center. “This will be the first concrete message he sends to the Senegalese people. The size, diversity, and profiles will be analyzed with a fine-tooth comb to see if they meet the demand for a break with the past.”
