[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Apparently uncertain of victory in the second round, President Abdoulaye Wade has said civil servants will begin to go without salaries only two months after his departure. The president's statement has thrown a cold chill in the spines of many in Senegal
... a nation of about 14 million on the west coast of Africa bordering Mauretania to the north, Mali to the east, and a pair of Guineas to the south, one of them Bissau. It is 90 percent Mohammedan and has more than 80 political parties. Its primary purpose seems to be absorbing refugees...
where unlike many other countries in the sub region, civil servants have never experienced salary arrears for even a week since independence in 1960.
Almost instantly, the man billed to become the next leader, Mr Macky Sall described the statement as "a sad and outdated electoral scam intended to dissuade good-intentioned citizens."
Media reports today quoted the Senegalese leader as saying that "many investors who had good intentions about our country are pulling back due to the campaign that has been mounted against me.''
He added: "Even the admirable infrastructural projects that I have begun and currently executing can only be done by me and no one else."
President Wade made the statement apparently in response to his challenger's assertion that ''I am the man behind all those beautiful infrastructure you can see across the country.''
Mr Sall, a former Wade premier who is contesting the second round against his former boss, says he persuaded President Wade to remove the long awaited infrastructural plans from the shelves and implement them when he served as Premier from 2004 to 2008 and could do better if he won the election set for March 25.
Analysts told the Nation that the outgoing president's statements concerning the financial difficulties the country was facing were directly in response to media reports on Tuesday which allege that the ruling party campaign budget has been exhausted.
Following that report, President Wade on Tuesday night admitted that "Senegal is presently going through a serious financial crisis" but added that his re-election will help overcome those apprehensions.
For nearly a week now, the opposition coalition has been accusing President Wade of buying votes from the electorate as it did in many opposition strongholds during the first round and hence the exhaustion of the ruling party campaign budget.
Some voters confessed on independent media this week that they had received money in return for ballots during the first round.
Some insisted that they would accept any monies paid to them in exchange of ballots while many others explained that they have been fully educated on the ills it entails and will refuse further bribes.