1. Bassirou Diomaye Faye, a 44-year-old tax officer, Faye was born in 1980, in Ndiaganiao, the western department of Mbour.
2. He has two wives; Marie Khone Faye and Absa Faye. Marie Khone, a close relative of her husband, has had four children, 3 boys and a girl. He has not had any children with Absa. Faye and Sonko are close friends, even naming one of his sons Ousmane in honour of their friendship.
3. In 2000, Faye earned his baccalaureate. He successfully attained a master’s degree in law and subsequently cleared both competitive exams, enrolling at the National School of Administration (ENA) and the magistracy in 2004.
4. He is the former general secretary of dissolved PASTEF (Patriotes africains du Sénégal pour le travail, l’éthique et la fraternité; ), and vied for president in the 2024 election in place of disqualified candidate Ousmane Sonko
5. Faye, a leader of the opposition party, contested in the presidential election held on Sunday alongside 18 other candidates following three years of turbulence and protest against Macky Sall, the incumbent president of the West African country.
6. Faye says he believes in system change and left-wing pan-Africanism to reclaim Senegal’s sovereignty, a rhetoric some analysts believe is an allusion to intentions to distance the country from Western powers especially former colonial ruler France. He also vowed to fight the “French economic stranglehold” over Senegal if elected.
7. He is elected President of the Republic of Senegal March 25th 2024.
