Senegal signed on August 4, 2022 in Bissau, the capital of Guinea-Bissau, a “peace agreement” with certain groups of the Casamance rebel movement who have pledged to lay down their arms and work for the definitive return of peace to this region located in the south of the country, between Gambia and Guinea-Bissau.
Casamance was a Portuguese possession for several centuries before being ceded to the French colonial empire in 1888, then being integrated into Senegal at the time of its independence in 1960. Casamance is the theater of one of the oldest active African rebellions.
Rebel leader César Atoute Badiate, head of the important southern unit of the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC), and an emissary of Senegalese President Macky Sall signed this agreement as President of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau.
“You entered the maquis when I was 10. Today, I am 50. I think that’s enough now. (…) How many people died, mutilated or left their village? We will accompany you in the search for peace”declared the Bissau-Guinean head of state Umaro Sissoco Embalo, addressing the Casamance rebel leader. “I can assure you that we will be the guarantors of this agreement”continued the current president of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
A weakened rebellion
The MFDC has been weakened in recent years by the fall of friendly regimes in Gambia and Guinea-Bissau, two countries which served as its rear base. The Senegalese army has also stepped up its operations against rebel bases since February 2022, with some success.
Rebel leader Atoute Badiate, ill and sentenced to life imprisonment for assassination and armed insurrection, was pushed to sign an agreement that some specialists in the region present as “a surrender”. The latter does not will not necessarily be followed by the other components of the MFDC. Like the armed group of Salif Sadio, today the most combative on the Gambian border, which has not signed the still confidential document for the time being. It is not known, for example, if the rebel leader Atoute Badiate, negotiated a pardon for him and his relatives.
A priority for Macky Sall
Macky Sall made “final peace” in Casamance one of the priorities of his second mandate. The Senegalese president hopes to revive himself, by announcing this prospect in Casamance, after 40 years of conflict having caused several thousand deaths.
“I remain committed to the consolidation of lasting peace in Casamance”tweeted President Macky Sall who “greeted” the agreement and thanked his counterpart Umaro Sissoco Embalo for his mediation.
I welcome the Peace and Arms Agreement signed on August 4 in Bissau between Senegal and the Provisional Committee of Political and Combatant Wings of the MFDC. I remain committed to the consolidation of lasting peace in Casamance. I thank the Prsdt @USEmbalo for his mediation. pic.twitter.com/s9AVJ2MJDr
— Macky Sall (@Macky_Sall) August 4, 2022
In an interview with the French-language TV5 channel, researcher Jean-Claude Marut pointed out that “Senegal needs to redeploy its armed forces in the face of the rise of jihadists on its borders, while the Casamance conflict mobilizes a third of its forces”.