Wade, 87, finally landed in Dakar Friday evening after his plane was held up in Morocco for 48 hours. He had been living in France since his election defeat in 2012 and his return came barely a week after authorities in Senegal decided to press ahead with his son’s trial in June. Karim Wade, who was a minister during his father’s presidency, is accused of illegally amassing a fortune of $1.4 billion.
“We are not going to tolerate this any longer,” Wade told thousands of his supporters on arrival on Friday. The man who ruled Senegal from 2000 to 2012, said he had offered to assist his successor, Macky Sall, to govern Senegal well, “but he [Sall] turned a deaf ear and blind eye to my offer”.
He added: “Instead, he triggered a witch hunt against 25 of my close collaborators, preventing them to leave the country and even imprisoning some of them without any legal basis.
“The government has arrested several directors, ministers and people close to me, alleging that they have stolen billions and have hidden the money outside the country. But there are no billions hidden anywhere.”
The former president is also hoping to guide his party to victory in the upcoming local government elections slated for June, though he had earlier declared that he would not contest in any election.
“I’m back because I know what problems the people of Senegal are facing, together we will find solutions,” he said.
“It is from listening to the suffering of my people that I have decided to come back, to listen and to give my people solutions. We cannot continue to let Senegal deteriorate this way.”
He said during his stay, he would organise meetings with his party officials and also “show Senegalese the path to follow in order to get rid of suffering”.
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