President Wade’s Casamance Mediation Offer:  A genuine offer or a ploy?

By Ansu Koroma

During a recent visit to Banjul, President Abdoulaye Wade presented his host with a gift of life.  He invited Yaya Jammeh to be part of the mediation efforts in bringing the Casamance rebellion to a peaceful conclusion.   The offer was made unconventionally, devoid of diplomatic elegance and standard protocol which didn’t escape the notice of observers of Senegambian affairs.  

Given the importance and sensitivity of MFDC-led insurrection that has dogged Senegal for over 30 years, costing thousands of Senegalese lives and negatively impacting the Senegalese economy, the move by Wade came as a surprise even to his host.   

Jammeh’s response to the request was expected because this is what he wanted all along – to be officially invited to join the peace process as a co-equal partner. He immediately accepted the invitation and proceeded, in characteristic form, to decide on the size of not only the Gambian delegation but also the Senegalese side and their respective qualifications.   

We also learned during his ‘acceptance speech’ that President Wade must select persons of equal trustworthiness as the ones he intends to select to be on his team – one more proof that dictators can neither shed nor disguise their dictatorial tendencies even when dealing with foreign leaders.

It will be recalled that in June this year, President Wade dispatched one of his most trusted confidante and collaborator to Banjul as his Special Envoy with a special message for his Gambian counterpart.  

At the time, I wrote that given the nature of President Wade’s message to Yaya Jammeh, the selection of Samuel Sarr, who currently neither serving in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor a member of Wade’s cabinet, underscores the sensitive and confidential nature of message – a message so delicate an issue that he cannot entrust the message to anyone other than one of his “boys” or “enforcers” who also happens to share secrets with both Wade (assassination of Matre Babacar Saye) and Jammeh (Nigerian Crude Oil Saga).  

 Although the specific message Mr. Sarr was asked to convey was unknown at the time, President Wade upon return to Dakar was quoted by news sources as saying that one of the reasons of his visit was to pave the way for reconciliation between the Senegalese envoy Samuel Sarr and Yaya Jammeh. 

The personal and business relationships between the two were fractured by the Crude Oil saga and the failed power production company of Samuel Sarr known as GAM Power.  Jammeh had to receive the Sarr mission because of the diplomatic cover provided by Wade as his Special Envoy.  Without the official designation, he would not have visited Banjul without the risk of running afoul of Jammeh’s security apparatus.  He rarely visited Banjul, and when he did, it was short and unannounced.   

It must be said that both President Wade and his Gambian counterpart are faced with serious political challenges.   They both face elections soon that are likely to be contentious.  

 Wade barely survived a serious threat to his rule on 23 June of this year with opposition and youth demonstrations that rocked the Senegalese capital and major cities around the country.  He is also faced with eligibility and successions issues which can prove terminal. Wade’s mission to Banjul was therefore seen by observers as more a diversion from his political problems than a substantive diplomatic trip as he would like Senegalese to believe.  It is against this backdrop, and the fact that it was barely eight months ago when the Jammeh regime went on national television to read a blistering criticism of Senegal and President Wade in particular that the new love fest is taking place. 

 In December last year, Yaya Jammeh accused Wade of worsening the relations between the two countries.  In the privately owned daily which doubles as the official mouthpiece of the Jammeh regime, The Daily Observer, Jammeh claimed in a stinging editorial that “things are worse under Present Abdoulaye Wade who harbors nothing good towards The Gambia and her people?”    Jammeh proceeded to accuse President Wade of intensifying the accusation leveled against Banjul of “supporting the MFDC because The President of The Gambia is a Jola” and  “supplying arms, as well as training MFDC rebels” despite evidence of goodwill towards Senegalese residents in The Gambia free of harassment.  

 Of course, Jammeh’s tirade was seen as natural reaction of someone caught with a huge consignment of arms from Iran destined for Kanilai, The Gambia via the port of Lagos with the evidence of the bill of lading that showed the consignee address to be Kanilai, The Gambia.

The swift diplomatic fence-mending that seemed to have taken place surprised many observers given the belligerent and undiplomatic language Jammeh used against Senegal.  It had also raised eyebrows in diplomatic circles given the gravity of accusations both leaders leveled against the other.  

The arms seizure in Nigeria revealed that 3 of the 16 containers laden with sophisticated arms had already made their way into The Gambia.   Senegalese newspapers had also reported that recent MFDC rebels killed in the conflict had in their possession sophisticated arms with serial numbers traced back to source in Iran.   Why would Senegal invite Yaya Jammeh to facilitate the peace negotiations between Senegal and the rebels when he’s been accused of supplying arms to the rebels culminating in President Wade lodging an official complaint with the United Nations accusing The Gambia of buying long-range rockets and other sophisticated weapons from the Islamic Republic of Iran for the purposes of destabilizing the Casamance region by supplying these arms to the rebels.   There is no public announcement to indicate that the issue has been resolved at the level of the UN and therefore, in the eyes of many in both countries, the matter remains unresolved.

Senegalese diplomacy has been rated as one of the best in Africa.  The first President of Senegal invested heavily in the development of human capacity in diplomacy.  President Abdou Diouf continued the tradition of not only investing in the training Senegalese diplomats, but the practice of seconding  Senegalese professionals to international institutions was also maintained. 

It was official government policy to encourage and support Senegalese nationals secure middle—and senior-level positions in International organizations. However, it could be argued that under Wade, these traditions were not observed as rigorously as the two previous presidencies. 

 Critics of the Wade regime will cite the fact that his first and only Foreign Minister, until recently, has been someone not trained in diplomacy and has never been a civic servant trained under the watchful eyes of France and Senegal. 

 Although former Foreign Minister Cheikh Tidiane Gadio was considered an outsider, it must be said that he proved himself beyond doubt to have been an able and effective diplomat even though he would never have been appointed Foreign Minister under Senghore or Abdou Diouf.  President Wade is an unorthodox politician and it shows in his diplomacy. 

His offer to Jammeh to mediate in the Casamance crisis is further proof of his lack of orthodoxy, which is becoming more pronounced after the departure of Cheikh Tidiane Gadio, who would have advised against both the method and substance of the offer.   Few in Senegal are taking the offer seriously. 

ATIKA, the military wing of MDFC wasted little time in  opposing the offer, followed with the threat to disrupt the upcoming elections in the Casamance should Wade proceed with his plans to involve Yaya Jammeh in the Casamance conflict.   ATIKA has made it clear that they will only participate in a peace process that will be between Senegal and MFDC., excluding all third party participation.    

If most Senegalese are opposed to the involvement of Yaya Jammeh in the peace process, including members of the government of Abdoulaye Wade, then why would Wade make such an unpopular offer?  The reason can be found not in the desire of President Wade to involve Yaya Jammeh in the peace process,  or lack thereof,  but rather in Samuel Sarr and his deteriorating relationship with Karim Wade, the son of President Wade who still would like to succeed his father as president. 

President Wade is still hoping that he will succeed in his quest to stand and win in the upcoming elections with the ultimate goal of passing the baton to his son.   

However, unlikely it may appear, but should Karim succeeds his father as President of Senegal, Samuel Sarr will be in immediate danger because of his overt opposition to Karim succeeding his father.    But in the event Wade fail to realize his grand plan, his exit together with his family to France will not be complete without paving the way for his close and trusted confidante to return home to resume life in Banjul. 

Why is it important to reconcile Samuel Sarr and Yaya Jammeh – it is important because Samuel Sarr prefers Banjul as his residence and business address post-Abdoulaye Wade.  Given that he is a very close confidante of Wade who has played a critical role in Wade’s rise to power, including but not limited to, serving as his Energy Minister; he is a valued member of President Wade’s inner circle.   Samuel Sarr is not a popular figure in Senegal because of his alleged role with the assassination of Maitre Babacar Saye who was serving as Deputy Chairman of the Electoral Commission of Senegal when he was shot and killed before the presidential elections of 2000.  His role as an ‘enforcer’ within the power structure makes him a target.

Without Abdoulaye Wade, Samuel Sarr will find life unbearable in Senegal without the protection provided under the Wade administration.  He’d prefer to retire in Banjul instead.   After all, he’s half-Gambian, his wife is 100% Gambian and he is a multi-millionaire.  The Casamance mediation offer is a smokescreen ostensibly designed to deflect attention away from Wade’s political problems at home and to reconcile his confidante with the Gambian dictator.   

By opposing the offer immediately following the announcement in Banjul, ATIKA may have spoken sooner than Wade would have preferred which may explain the ensuing flurry of diplomatic activity moving in the direction of Banjul with the successive visits of the Senegalese Foreign Minister -  Mr. Madike Niang - followed immediately by the visit of another Senior Minister of the Environment  - Djibo Laity Ka - who had served under all three Senegalese Presidents with institutional memory of the conflict among other aspects of relations between the two countries.   

Recent decisions relating to the conflict does not portray the image and confidence of the man who claimed when he was elected President of Senegal in 2000 that he will solve the Casamance conflict in 100 days – but rather it depicts a man in desperate search of options that will facilitate his exit from power or the accession of Karim Wade to the throne through his father.  

At this stage in the game, everything else is secondary to theoctogenarian President.  This is his final push and time is not on his side and he knows it – and yes, Samuel Sarr is worth that much to President Abdoulaye Wade.