ADDRESS TO THE NATION BY HIS EXCELLENCY MR. BASSIROU DIOMAYE DIAKHAR FAYE ON THE OCCASION OF THE 65TH ANNIVERSARY OF SENEGAL’S INDEPENDENCE SPEECH - 2025 APRIL 03 My dear compatriots! Tomorrow, April 4th, we will celebrate together the 65th anniversary of our country’s accession to international sovereignty. To each and every one of you, I extend my warmest congratulations. In this moment of national communion, I hold a heartfelt thought for all the “jàmbaars” who fell on the field of honor and for all the loved ones we have lost. I also express, on behalf of the entire Nation, my compassion for the suffering of those battling illness or going through difficult times. This year again, the Independence Day celebration takes place under the banner of spiritual communion, in the midst of Christian Lent and on the heels of the blessed month of Ramadan. These moments of intense spiritual fervor and grace remind us that faith is our greatest treasure and that it nourishes, day after day, our exceptional ability to live together in fraternity, harmony, and diversity. Let us give thanks to the Almighty for this fortunate coincidence and pray together that He accepts our devotions and continues to watch over the Senegalese people. In the face of the challenges of our times, the values inherited from our ancestors call on us to always unite our strengths in the crucial moments of our History. We must do everything to preserve this precious legacy, which forms an essential part of our intangible heritage. This is the spirit of our unshakable will to live together, so well encapsulated by our national motto: One People – One Goal – One Faith. My dear compatriots, it has now been 65 years since we took our destiny into our own hands. 65 years since Senegal proudly asserted its sovereignty. 65 years since Senegal has pursued its march toward progress, despite the turbulence of the world. Driven by the ideal of a free, sovereign, just, and prosperous Senegal, the successive conquests of rights and freedoms have laid the foundations for a fruitful democratic model that grows stronger, day by day, through dialogue. This democratic maturity allows the various political and social actors in our country to express themselves freely, to compete fiercely when necessary, but always to recognize the verdict of the sovereign People. Today, more than ever, we must harness this driving force to correct what needs to be corrected and give substance to the aspirations of our people and the hopes of our youth. My dear compatriots, April 4th is also the celebration of our Defense and Security Forces. It is an opportunity to pay tribute to all our Jàmbaars, the pillars of our Nation and the ultimate bulwarks of our peace. To your elders and all our former combatants, I reiterate the infinite recognition and gratitude of the entire nation. This year’s theme, “Toward the Technological and Industrial Sovereignty of the Defense and Security Forces,” reflects our collective ambition and the high level of expectation we have set for ourselves in supporting you in your mission. Dear members of the Defense and Security Forces, men and women of duty, you are the guarantors of our peace and the tireless protectors of our sovereignty. With honor and selflessness, you embody the very essence of the Army-Nation concept. Your daily presence alongside the population, your active commitment to national security, the fight against natural disasters, and the preservation of our strategic resources make Senegal a nation armed to better shape its own destiny. To this end, the technological and industrial modernization of the logistical and material resources of our Defense and Security Forces, essential to our sovereignty and collective security, is at the heart of our priorities. My dear compatriots, it has been a year since we embarked on a profound transformation of our country, rigorously and lucidly conducting an uncompromising diagnosis of the economic situation. While the current situation reveals even greater challenges that we must overcome, the duty of truth forms the foundation of the systemic break we have undertaken with determination and responsibility. Already, the Government has resolutely committed to a vast array of reforms. These aim at optimizing local finances, ensuring a transparent budgetary policy, rationalizing expenditures, and efficiently managing debt to preserve the sustainability of public finances. My dear compatriots, significant efforts have been made to clear, over a four-year period, the arrears owed to certified operators for seeds and agricultural equipment, amounting to more than 80 billion CFA francs. Out of a total of 113 billion recorded at the end of 2024, a sum of 70 billion was disbursed by the end of March 2025. The same applies to the construction sector, where payments of 62.08 billion in arrears have been made, with an additional 66.7 billion planned in the 2025 Finance Law. Finally, the settlement of back payments, though not exhaustive, reached 19.53 billion CFA francs by the end of March 2025, benefiting 9,479 teachers. This is complemented by the regularization of 1,198 contractual teachers and professors, with an annual budgetary impact of 5.79 billion CFA francs. To strengthen and actively support women’s economic empowerment, Phase 2 of the DER’s PAVIE program, with a budget of 107 billion CFA francs, will be launched in the coming days. It will be coupled with an ambitious innovative program of 3,000 integrated farms across 15,000 hectares nationwide, combining agriculture and livestock. Thus, starting this year, 2025, we will launch the innovative Community Agricultural Cooperatives program, structures designed to enhance the production capacities of farmers and breeders, particularly youth and women, and facilitate their access to markets. These advances, achieved despite budgetary constraints, lay the groundwork for ambitious prospects. My dear compatriots, in a context marked by resource scarcity, only non-negotiable budgetary discipline allows us to confidently undertake the necessary recovery of our public accounts. The imminent full transition to the Integrated Financial Information Management System will also strengthen the integrity of budgetary and financial operations and ensure strict oversight of state assets. This strategy is reflected in our constant efforts to tangibly reduce the cost of living, with the continued lowering of prices for essential goods, while preserving the quality of life for Senegalese people in terms of health and the environment. These reductions, as I recently announced, will continue, by the grace of God. With our country’s recent entry into the era of oil and gas production, we will ensure that these strategic resources are exploited with transparency and absolute respect for the environment, for the benefit of the Senegalese people. As part of the reappropriation of our sovereign resources, the renegotiation of contracts is proceeding as planned. The results achieved so far are more than satisfactory and will be communicated to the Senegalese people at the appropriate time. Aware of the priority of universal access to water, we have initiated the rural borehole phase and launched feasibility studies for the “Great Water Transfer.” This highly structuring project, like others under the “Water Highways” initiative, will contribute to securing the drinking water supply for nearly 15 million Senegalese. In the same vein, we are accelerating rural electrification projects to rapidly achieve universal access to electricity. To this end, we are rigorously overseeing the execution of projects to ensure deadlines are met and costs controlled, notably through the renegotiation of major contracts enabling the electrification of an additional 2,740 localities. Regarding land management, an unprecedented audit has led to corrective measures currently being implemented. From now on, the management of land assets is conducted with rigor, transparency, and responsibility, gradually putting an end to land squandering practices while ensuring a fair and equitable distribution of national resources. This momentum will continue with the resumption of consultations on the delicate yet necessary and inevitable land reform. My dear compatriots, the efforts made to implement the Casamance peace agreements bear witness to our commitment to our coexistence, our restored fraternity, and the deep unity of the Senegalese nation. With the “Diomaye Plan for Casamance,” we have embarked on an irreversible process of reconciliation and the dignified return of displaced populations. Our coexistence, rooted in cardinal values, is our shared treasure. That is why national cohesion remains my sole and only compass. Convinced that a nation’s strength is also measured by its capacity for dialogue, I place particular importance on social dialogue and ongoing consultation with all components of our society. This is why I recently instructed the Prime Minister, Mr. Ousmane SONKO, to organize a major national consultation with social partners. Together with religious and customary authorities, civil society, the private sector, and all the vital forces of the Nation, we will tirelessly pursue this participatory and inclusive approach. In doing so, we materialize our commitment to ensuring ever-strengthened national cohesion, the indispensable foundation of the just, supportive, and prosperous Senegal we all aspire to. I am pleased to inform the Senegalese people that transparency laws have been finalized and are in the process of being reviewed for their upcoming examination in the Council of Ministers. Furthermore, the work of the ad hoc committee tasked with implementing the consensus from the justice consultations is progressing smoothly. To date, the organic law project related to the Constitutional Court, the constitutional revision project, the organic law project related to the Superior Council of the Judiciary, and their respective integral decrees have been finalized and submitted for validation. Texts establishing the judge of freedoms and detention, as well as amendments to the Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure, particularly regarding prosecutor returns, will follow shortly. In the wake of these consultations, I announce that the theme of the next National Dialogue Day will focus on the political system. The draft terms of reference, already finalized, will be transmitted as soon as possible to all stakeholders for amendments and contributions, to better prepare the proceedings. My dear compatriots, the state of our country’s public finances, as revealed by the audit, requires us to first rely on ourselves to turn the situation around. We are fully capable of doing so, and we will succeed with the mobilization of each and every one of you! Indeed, the history of nations teaches us that the path to development demands collectively accepted sacrifices so that better tomorrows may come. I therefore call on each and every one of you to demonstrate resilience, active solidarity, and patriotic commitment in the face of the numerous and complex challenges before us. Looking in the same direction—toward the near future of our children—must be the unifying horizon of all our energies. Together, fortified by our unity and determination, we will build the just and prosperous Senegal we aspire to. Long live sovereign Senegal! Long live a united and upright Africa! Happy Independence Day to all!