Minutes  Posté le 14:33 22-05-2024, modifié le 14:33 22-05-2024 par Tournons La Page

Three Senegalese civil society organizations (Teranga Lab, Urgence Écologique, and Wa Mbedmi) have elected a five-member board to lead the activities of the Tournons La Page Senegalese coalition. This election took place at the end of a Constitutive General Assembly held on Saturday, May 18, 2024, in M'bour.

Alexandre Guibert Lette, Mouhamadou Soumbounou, Jaly Badiane, Georges Lamine Diop, and Absa Diongue respectively occupy the positions of President-Coordinator, Secretary General-Protection Referent, Treasurer-Administrative and Financial Director (DAF), Communications Officer, and Auditor of the newly constituted board. They have been elected for a three-year term. The General Assembly also approved the coalition's Statutes and Bylaws.

Launch of TLP Senegal on April 26, 2024

The Tournons La Page (TLP) Senegalese coalition was officially launched on Friday, April 26, 2024, at a press conference in Dakar. Together, Teranga Lag, Urgence Écologique, and Wa Mbedmi, the coalition's three founding organizations, pledged to defend democracy, human rights, and good governance. “As members of this coalition, we pledge to defend with determination the fundamental principles of democracy, human rights, and good governance. We are determined to make the voice of citizens heard, to fight impunity, and to promote transparency and accountability in all spheres of society" said Alexandre Guibert Lette, Executive Director of Teranga Lab.

For him, tackling Senegal's democratic challenges means pooling everyone's efforts. “By working together, sharing our resources, and pooling our efforts, we are stronger and more effective in our fight for a fairer, more equitable, and more democratic Senegal, one where the people's elected representatives are accountable to the citizens, a Senegal where civic space is strong and protected, a Senegal where national legislative texts, notably the Constitution, are not amended to allow leaders to remain in power beyond the legal term," he said.

Call for international solidarity against the repression of civil society

During the launch, TLP-Senegal insisted on the need to free two TLP members imprisoned for exercising their right to freedom of opinion and expression. “In a show of solidarity, Tournons La Page Senegal calls on the governments of Togo and Burundi to release Prince Fadel and Floriane Irangabiye, both  members of Tournons La Page,” noted Alexandre Guibert Lette, before adding: "We are standing in solidarity with everything that is happening in Mali in terms of the narrowing of civic space, the suspension of the activities of associations and political parties, the violation of the rule of law and the lack of freedom of opinion and expression”.