A ceremony was organized this Monday, April 4 in Dakar, Place de l’Indépendance, with a “small format” parade of some 1,800 soldiers and paramilitaries.
With our correspondence in Dakar, Charlotte Idrac
To the sound of the military band, the different units follow one another. After two years marked by a simple taking up of arms due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the ceremony marking the 62nd anniversary of Senegalese independence was able to take place in public.
Maïssa Ndiaye came with her six-year-old child. ” Citizenship is inculcated from an early age, says the father of the family. It was important to me that he knew what independence was. I had talked about it before coming. »
No cheerleaders or dancers this year, as during the traditional popular parade at Place de la Nation. Due to works, the ceremony was relocated to the city center. Magaye Gaye took her daughter, a family tradition. ” It’s like when I was very young. It was in Ziguinchor. Every April 4, I got up at 6am to get a good seat and then watch the parade. It was a moment of rejoicing, a unique moment in the life of a citizen. »
Sixty-two years after independence, Abdou Ndaw, student, flag of Senegal on his back, believes that we must remain vigilant ” because we still have a lot to work on. We have political sovereignty, but we still have economic sovereignty. As for Matar Sarr, a member of a group called “the future young Senegalese soldiers”, he hopes to be able to parade one day in turn. ” We want to be soldiers. That is our objective, it is to save our country. »