About Lesonkiste

Curtailing the Power of the President of the Republic

No one is above the law—not the President, not ministers, not legislators, and not judges. Senegal needs a constitutional order built for its present reality and sovereign future, not a concentration of executive power inherited from colonial administrative traditions or preserved through later institutional habits. Reform must replace personal rule with enforceable checks, transparent government and equal responsibility before the law.

End the President’s unilateral power to dissolve the National Assembly

The President of the Republic should never be able to dissolve the National Assembly. Deputies receive a fixed mandate from the people, and that mandate should end only through the normal electoral calendar or a narrowly defined constitutional process initiated outside the presidency. Political disagreement, legislative resistance or the loss of a presidential majority must never be grounds for erasing the people’s elected representation.

No constitutional change without legislative and popular approval

The President should have no power to change the Constitution by personal initiative or executive pressure. Every amendment must receive approval from a qualified supermajority of the National Assembly after public hearings and publication of the proposed text. Any amendment affecting presidential powers, term limits, elections, fundamental rights, the judiciary or the balance of institutions should also require approval by referendum. Emergency procedure must never be used to rewrite the constitutional order.

A sovereign Constitution for contemporary Senegal

Constitutional reform should be written through an inclusive Senegalese process involving citizens, jurists, national-language communities, civil society, the diaspora, local authorities, religious and traditional voices, youth and women. The objective is not to erase every existing safeguard, but to remove inherited structures that place the state above the citizen and the presidency above other institutions. The final consolidated text must be published clearly in French and Senegal’s national languages so the people can know the law that governs them.

Presidential immunity must be removable

The National Assembly should have explicit authority, through a transparent vote by a defined qualified majority, to lift presidential immunity and authorize prosecution when credible evidence supports serious criminal allegations. Impeachment, removal from office and criminal prosecution must be distinct but connected procedures. An independent prosecutor and an impartial court—not the President’s political opponents alone—must control the criminal case, with full defense rights and public reasons for every decision.

Define treason precisely

“High treason” must cease to be a vague political expression. The Constitution and an organic law should define it through specific conduct, such as deliberately violating the presidential oath in a grave manner; organizing an unconstitutional seizure or retention of power; knowingly surrendering sovereignty or strategic national assets for unlawful personal benefit; ordering grave and systematic violations of constitutional rights; obstructing lawful elections; corruption or illicit enrichment tied to presidential authority; or collaborating with a foreign power to seriously damage Senegal’s independence, territorial integrity or constitutional order. Criticism, opposition, journalism, protest and policy disagreement can never constitute treason.

Abolish the presidential “caisse noire”

Secret discretionary presidential funds must be abolished. Every franc spent by the presidency should have a legal appropriation, a documented public purpose and an auditable record. Narrow national-security expenditures may remain confidential to the public only when strictly necessary, but they must still be reviewed by an authorized parliamentary committee and an independent public-audit institution. Confidentiality must never become immunity from accounting.

Mandatory declarations of assets

The President, Prime Minister, ministers, senior presidential staff, heads of major public institutions and other designated officials must file verified declarations of assets and interests before taking office, update them annually and file a final declaration after leaving office. The law should require disclosure of beneficial ownership, major liabilities, gifts and conflicts of interest; permit comparison with tax and property records; publish an appropriate public summary; and impose meaningful penalties for concealment, false declarations and unexplained enrichment.

An accountable judiciary that remains independent

Judicial independence cannot mean judicial impunity. Judges and prosecutors must be protected from presidential or partisan interference while remaining answerable to law, ethics and reasoned review. Misconduct, corruption, deliberate abuse of procedure and serious conflicts of interest should be examined by an independent disciplinary body with balanced membership, published standards, defense rights and appeal. Court decisions should be reasoned and published, case assignment protected from manipulation, and proven misconduct sanctioned without allowing political retaliation against judges for lawful decisions.

Constitutional context: The current text gives the National Assembly legislative and oversight functions and provides a parliamentary accusation procedure for presidential high treason. This proposal goes further by removing presidential dissolution power, defining treason precisely and strengthening financial and judicial accountability. Read the Constitution published by Senegal’s Constitutional Council.