Ousmane Sonko

Ousmane Sonko (Wolof: Usmaan Sonko; born 15 July 1974) is a Senegalese politician and former tax official who served as the 16th prime minister of Senegal from 2024 to 2026, and as the leader of PASTEF since the party's foundation in January 2014.

Sonko was the PASTEF candidate in the 2019 presidential election, ultimately placing third. A major figure in the Senegalese opposition against former president Macky Sall, his arrest and subsequent investigation by authorities in 2019 following sexual assault accusations triggered mass protests and rioting across Senegal. In June 2023, he was sentenced to two years in prison, and in July 2023, PASTEF was dissolved by the Senegalese government. In 2024, he was appointed prime minister after his protégé, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, won the 2024 presidential election. Faye dismissed Sonko in May 2026.

== Early life ==

Sonko was born in Thiès and spent his childhood in Sébikhotane and Casamance. His father was from Casamance and his mother was from Khombole.

Sonko received his baccalaureate in the year 1993, and graduated with a master's degree in Juridical Science from Gaston Berger University in Saint-Louis in 1999. He subsequently attended the...