Fact Check: Who Is ‘Young Senegalese Leader’ Speaking Fluent English Against French Neo-colonialism in Viral Video

Fact Check: Who Is ‘Young Senegalese Leader’ Speaking Fluent English Against French Neo-colonialism in Viral Video 

Claim: Following electoral victory by Senegal’s main opposition candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye, a viral video alleging to be the President elect speaking English and lashing against French Neo-colonialism has emerged. 

Full Text: the video was accompanied with the following text on WhatsApp, “????????????Great speech from the Senegalese President Elect, and we pray for his protection against the evil forces that are bent on keeping Africa on its knees.  Congratulations Senegal/African Youths, and hope Naija youths are listening. Shalom.????????‍♂️????????‍♂️????????‍♂️” 

In the video, the “President elect” who “spoke English” States, “it is high time for France to lift its knee off our kneck and put an end to this unjust oppression. Centuries of mystery, human trafficking, colonisation and neo-coloniaation have caused immeasurable suffering, it’s time to put an end to this cycle of oppression, it’s high time for France to leave us alone, it’s time for France to take a cue from its European neighborhors and learn a valuable lesson in independence…” the 5min 1sec video states, where he went ahead to reel European economic powers like Germany, Spain, Italy etc who allegedly do not exploit their former colonies. 

Senegal opposition presidential candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye, a political newcomer popular among disaffected youth, promised on Monday to govern with humility and transparency.

Faye, set to be declared the next president after his main rival called him to concede defeat, thanked President Macky Sall and other candidates for respecting Senegal’s democratic tradition by recognising his victory well before official results.

Senegal is a French speaking West African country formerly colonised by France. The country maintains the CFA as it’s legal tender.

Verification: To verify the identity of the person in the video, PRNigeria fact check team took the Tik Tok watermark @newafricanews and searched for the post on the social media platform. Results revealed the post with the same English rendition but without a meaning caption.

The fact check desk then broke the image into keyframes and ran a reverse image search. Search results revealed an X post of the same video from September 2023. It also revealed that the identity of the individual in the video is not the 44-yr-old President elect Faye, but 49-yr-old Ousmane Sonko, President Senegal’s opposition Patriots of Senegal (PASTEF) party. 

Sonko was arrested on multiple charges in July 2023 including provoking insurrection, conspiring with “terrorist” groups, endangering state security and immoral behaviour towards individuals younger than 21. Described as a deliberate move to cripple his growing influence and popularity among young people in the country since 2019, his arrest triggered mass protests and rioting across Senegal. Sonko was eventually barred from running in the election due to a separate case involving defamation charges.

The PASTEF party, which was founded by Sonko in 2014, endorsed Faye who is now President elect.

Sonko has been campaigning against French influence in the West African country.

A comparison of the photos of both Sonko and Faye shows the while Faye the President elect is younger with more sideboards extending from the hairline and running parallel beyond the ears, Sonko, identified as the individual in the video appeared younger. 

Further investigations by PRNigeria fact check reveals that the video was originally rendered in French not English. It was taken from a close up shot of Ousmane Sonko’s 2021 press Conference

The same clip was also shared in October 2022 by a pro Faye Facebook account, with French President Emmanuel Macron speaking in French in a different location inserted in Sonko’s video featured in a lower frame. 

PRNigeria also contacted it’s source in Senegal Papa Sanou Faye who confirmed that indeed the individual in the video is Ousmane Sonko not President Elect Faye and the original rendition was not in English but French. 

“This article is not authentic. It is translated. The speech was in French on July 2nd, 2021,” he told PRNigeria‘s head of fact check. 

Faye who confirmed that the translated voice over in English was correct further revealed, “this was a press statement in Senegal about a proposed law on the fight against terrorism that was seen as targeting famous political leaders like and his allies. He said that this law is like a copy of the Terrorism Act of Tony Blair.So in conclusion, he concluded that Macky Sall wanted to use this law to track down political leaders.”

Conclusion: Findings by PRNigeria reveal that the identity of the individual in the video is Ousmane Sonko, Senegal’s opposition leader and President of PASTEF party who is known for his campaign against French influence in Senegal. The clip was from a press conference in July 2021 in which he spoke in French language and not in English. The English version was a translated voice over imposed on the original narrative. 

PRNigeria therefore concludes that the claims that the “English speaking” individual seen in the video lashing against French Neo-colonialism is Senegal’s President elect Bassirou Diomaye Faye, is Misleading. 

By PRNigeria