Diomaye mooy Sonko

1. 1

   54.28% in the first round. On March 24, 2024, Bassirou Diomaye Faye won Senegal's presidency, ten days after leaving prison.

2. 2

   He walked out alongside Ousmane Sonko, the leader barred from running. One phrase in Wolof transferred the trust: “Diomaye is Sonko”.

3. 3

   With the party dissolved, Pastef had backup candidates, money from members and the diaspora, and VPNs and platforms beyond the government's reach.

4. 4

   A broad civil society front pressed for the date, and the Constitutional Council forced the government to hold the election.

5. 5

   Prepare to lose your leader, party and internet, with stand-ins, your own money, a base abroad and allies who defend the rules of the game.

Copy summary

If you're new to this, start with the fundamentals, from the vote goal to what the research says. Read the fundamentals

Pastef has published little about its internal organization. What is known comes from statements by its own leaders, digital activists interviewed by the Senegalese press, and the civil society spokespeople who blocked the postponement of the election.

• Ousmane Sonko

  Founder and leader of Pastef

  Barred from running and jailed, he had recorded a video months earlier which, released on Facebook on January 28, 2024, named Diomaye Faye as the project's candidate.

  Sources

• Ngagne Demba Touré

  Pastef leader

  Published on Facebook, in January 2024, the contributions declared by the diaspora sections in France, Italy, the US, Switzerland and Belgium.

  Sources

• Amadou Chérif Diouf

  Pastef's finance secretary; later Secretary of State for Senegalese Abroad

  Described what went on behind the scenes of the victory and championed the diaspora's role in funding and mobilization.

  Sources

• Lamine Niang and Sadikh Top

  Close to Pastef: director general of the Le Soleil newspaper and board chair of the APS news agency; panel “Communication in the resistance” (27 Dec 2025)

  Described how the party, shut out of traditional media, switched to communicating through audio, video and relay groups on social media, with support from abroad.

  Sources

• Omar Africa (Oumar Soumaré)

  Content creator close to Pastef

  Described the role of creators in the 2024 victory and, for a November 2025 rally, how they coordinated short videos, unedited footage and simultaneous posts at home and in the diaspora.

  Sources

• Aar Sunu Election: Malick Diop and Elimane Haby Kane

  Coordinators of the civic coalition “Let's protect our election”

  Brought together some 40 civic, religious and professional groups against the postponement of the election, with marches, strikes and vigils.

  Sources

• F24: Mamadou Mbodj

  Coordinator of the Forces Vives de la Nation (Nation's Living Forces) platform

  Launched in April 2023 a front of 112 organizations against a third term for Macky Sall and for the opposition's right to run freely.

  Sources

• Alioune Guèye

  Senegalese accountant in Ohio (US)

  In 2017 he launched an online fundraiser to support Sonko after he was dismissed from the civil service, one of the first signs of the diaspora's weight.

  Sources

Paraphrases and short quotes from leaders, activists and spokespeople. Where people talk about themselves, treat it as testimony, not proof.

• Entrusted the presidential project to Diomaye Faye, whom he called his “younger brother”, and asked the other allied candidates to stay in the race.

  Ousmane Sonko, 44-minute Facebook video, recorded in July 2023 and released on Jan 28, 2024 (as reported by Africanews)

• The backup candidates were there to hold on to the supporting signatures and reorganize the membership while Sonko fought in the courts.

  Amadou Ba (Pastef), Seneweb: Plans B: les dessous de la stratégie de Pastef, Sep 30, 2023

• Asked activists to stay ready and not lose heart: it was “un jeu de nerfs” (a war of nerves) — whoever gives up last wins.

  Ousseynou Ly (Sonko's office), Seneweb, Sep 30, 2023

• After being frozen out by the media, the party turned its communication to digital, using platforms abroad to keep the resistance going.

  Lamine Niang, Panel “Communication in the resistance”, Le Soleil, Dec 28, 2025

Between 2021 and 2024, Ousmane Sonko went from opposition MP to barred and jailed candidate. The government dissolved his party, cut the internet and tried to postpone the election. Even so, the stand-in he chose won in the first round, something no opposition candidate had achieved since independence.

54.28%

for Faye in the first round, Mar 24, 2024 (2.43 million votes)official

10 days

between leaving prison and the voteofficial

356M CFA francs

declared by Pastef sections in five countries, Jan 2024campaign figure

+100,000%

Proton VPN sign-ups in Senegal, June 2023platform figure

Three years of resistance

1. Jan–Mar 2021An international fundraiser brings in 125.9 million CFA francs in 8 hours. Sonko is arrested in March; 14 dead in the protests. The party closes the cell WhatsApp groups to new members.
2. Apr 14, 2023Diomaye Faye, Pastef's secretary general, is arrested over a social media post criticizing the judiciary.
3. Apr 16, 2023F24 is born: 112 organizations against a third term for Macky Sall and against the exclusion of candidates.
4. Jun 1–7, 2023Sonko is sentenced to two years. Social media restricted, mobile data cut from June 4 to 7. VPN sign-ups soar.
5. Jul 28–Aug 2, 2023Sonko is arrested again, Pastef is dissolved, mobile data is cut and TikTok is blocked.
6. Sep 2023–Jan 2024The party fields several backup candidates. The diaspora declares 356 million CFA francs. On January 28, a video from Sonko names Faye.
7. Feb 3–13, 2024Macky Sall postpones the election on the eve of the campaign. Mobile data cut on February 5 and 13. Aar Sunu Election is born, with around 40 groups.
8. Feb 15, 2024The Constitutional Council declares the postponement unconstitutional.
9. Mar 6–14, 2024An amnesty law is passed; on March 14 Sonko and Faye walk out of prison. The phrase “Diomaye mooy Sonko” becomes the campaign's rallying cry.
10. Mar 24, 2024Faye wins in the first round with 54.28%, on 61.3% turnout. He takes office on April 2 and appoints Sonko prime minister.

Three layers

The victory didn't belong to the party alone. Three different networks worked at the same time, with overlapping goals.

• The underground partyLocal cells, diaspora sections, backup candidates and the Diomaye Président coalition, which gave the dissolved Pastef a legal way to run.
• The digital relaysGroups of activists, content creators and diaspora accounts that spread audio, video and hashtags, via VPN when needed.
• The front for the rulesF24, Aar Sunu Election, unions, religious leaders and election observers, who weren't backing a candidate but the election on its proper date.

Senegal has had competitive elections since 2000, but between 2021 and 2024 the government used the courts, party dissolution and internet shutdowns against the opposition. Pastef's method is above all a response to those conditions.

Platforms

Cell WhatsApp groups

The backbone of internal coordination. As early as 2021 the party closed many groups to new members and removed those who had been detained, to control communication and prevent infiltration. In 2026 the France section still described its groups as official organizing spaces.

Facebook (Sonko's page, videos, lives)

The leader's one-to-many channel: that's where the video naming Faye came out on January 28, 2024. An OSIRIS analyst cited Sonko's live sessions as an example of well-done interactive content, rare among the candidates.

TikTok

The young people's network, and therefore a target: blocked on August 2, 2023, with the minister calling it the favorite network of ill-intentioned people. It kept being used via VPN.

X and international hashtags

#FreeSenegal and #MackyDémission were used to take the crisis to the foreign press and governments, through diaspora accounts and independent journalists.

VPN

The workaround tool. Proton recorded sign-ups in Senegal 100,000% above normal in June 2023, 2,800% in August and 350% in February 2024. It's no use in a total blackout.

Diaspora organized by country

Party sections in countries such as France, Italy, the US, Switzerland, Belgium and Morocco, beyond the reach of Senegalese law, which raised money, posted content and voted abroad.

Streets and caravans

The official campaign lasted two weeks and fell during Ramadan; caravans through the regions and big rallies took the candidates across the country, and on March 19 the caravan split in two to cover more ground.

Local conditions

• Party dissolved by decree on July 31, 2023; the candidate ran as an independent, backed by the Diomaye Président coalition.
• Leader and stand-in both jailed: Faye since April 2023 over a social media post, Sonko since July 2023; both freed on March 14, 2024 under an amnesty law.
• Repeated internet shutdowns: social media restricted on Jun 1, 2023, mobile data cut on Jun 4–7 and Jul 31, 2023, TikTok blocked on Aug 2, 2023, mobile data suspended on Feb 5 and 13, 2024.
• Traditional media seen as close to those in power; Walf TV's signal was suspended during the protests.
• A young population: more than 76% of the roughly 18 million inhabitants were under 35 in the 2023 census, but many young people weren't registered to vote.
• A large diaspora, with the right to vote abroad and the means to fund.
• Violence at protests: at least 65 dead between 2021 and 2023, according to the Africa Center for Strategic Studies.
• A Constitutional Council that, on Feb 15, 2024, struck down the postponement of the election, and religious leaders who acted as mediators.

Pastef organized to lose pieces: everything the government could take away (the leader, the party, the internet, the election date) had a replacement ready.

Three fronts

An organization that survives a ban

Local cells and sections abroad, several backup candidates, a coalition to run under when the party was dissolved, and money from its own base.

Communication that doesn't depend on whoever can switch it off

Relay groups, audio and video, accounts outside the country, content creators and VPNs, plus messages recorded in advance for the day the leader was silenced.

A broad front for the rules of the game

Allies who didn't need to back the candidate to defend the election: civil society, unions, religious leaders, teachers, other candidates and the Constitutional Council. In a two-round system, keeping other allied candidates in the race also keeps options open and can bring more people out in the first round, as long as everyone unites in the second; the sources don't say which of these reasons weighed in Sonko's request.

The resistance cycle

A sequence that repeated with every blow between 2021 and 2024.

1. Anticipate Assume the leader may be jailed and the internet cut, and prepare stand-ins before it happens.
2. Duplicate More than one candidate, more than one channel, more than one admin, a rear base outside the country.
3. Fund from the base Collections from members and the diaspora, with targets per country, and accounts filed with the authorities.
4. Communicate through relays The leadership records; relay groups and creators spread it in several formats and on several platforms at once.
5. Work around When they block, teach people to use VPNs, switch platforms and fall back on word of mouth, radio and the street.
6. Defend the calendar Join a broad civic front, go to the courts and demonstrate peacefully and within the law.
7. Transfer trust When the leader can't run, link his name to the stand-in's in one simple phrase, in the people's language, and show them together.
8. Protect the vote Collect voter cards and turn out. The sources consulted do not describe Pastef's work at polling stations; in a new campaign, plan for monitors at every station and photos of the tally sheets.

And again.

What it takes to organize a campaign or cause that can lose its leader, its legal structure or the internet without stopping. Adapt it to your country's law and to the rules on this page.

What depended on Senegal and what works anywhere. Swap the local pieces for their equivalents in your country.

Choose your country

Pick the moves that fit your context and add them to your kit. Each one works on its own or combined with moves from other playbooks.

1. A substitute for every piece

   For every piece your opponent can take away (leader, party, channel, date), there is a ready alternative the base already knows. Pastef registered several back-up candidates, ran through a coalition after it was dissolved and kept, from July 2023, the video in which Sonko named Faye, who won in the first round with 54.28%.

   How to set it up, step by step

   Works when

   It works when there is a real risk of leaders being jailed, the organization dissolved or candidates excluded, and there is still time to prepare alternatives before the blow lands.

   Don't use when

   It fails with a substitute the base doesn't know or accept: a name imposed at the last minute does not inherit the trust.

   1. Week −36 List everything they can take from you: leader, legal vehicle, main channel, date
   2. Week −34 Record and store the message in which the leader names the substitute
   3. Week −30 Work out with lawyers the alternative legal vehicles: coalition, independent list
   4. Week −26 Register more than one candidate before the last legal deadline
   5. Week −20 Name back-up admins for groups, accounts and finances, some of them abroad
   6. Week −12 Rehearse the switch: the substitute leads meetings and caravans with the cells
   7. Week −8 Release the endorsement on the leader's channel, with name, reasons and personal praise

   Team

   • The leader: names the substitute on video and introduces them to the base
   • Substitute: already known and accepted by the base, ready to step in
   • Legal: knows the deadlines and alternative legal vehicles and defends detainees

   What to measure: Critical pieces with a named substitute who has already taken over the role in an in-person rehearsal (a meeting, caravan or cell assembly); the target is to cover the whole list before the last legal registration deadline.

   Risks to watch: Too many back-up names confuse the base and can split the movement: decide collectively who the substitute is, announce it clearly and check every legal vehicle with lawyers.

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2. A phrase that transfers trust

   When the leader can't run, you tie their name to the substitute's in a phrase of identity, in the language of the street, and show the two together. In Senegal, “Diomaye mooy Sonko” (Diomaye is Sonko) became the campaign's rallying cry, even though Faye's own accounts were small.

   How to set it up, step by step

   Works when

   It works when trust is concentrated in a barred leader and the substitute has that leader's public blessing.

   Don't use when

   It fails without the leader's visible blessing, and the bill comes later: “X is Y” unites in the campaign and can divide in government.

   1. Week −10 Write the phrase in the language of the street: substitute + identity verb + leader
   2. Week −8 Publish the video in which the leader blesses the substitute, with name and reasons
   3. Week −6 Hand the phrase and the video to the cells, the relays and the diaspora sections
   4. Week −4 Take the phrase to door-knocking and cell meetings, where the internet doesn't reach
   5. Week −2 Put the two together on the caravan and on stage; split them only to cover more ground
   6. Week −1 Film the rallies unedited for those who couldn't come
   7. D-day week On the last day, remind people of their voter card and ask each to bring a relative

   Team

   • Local cells: carry the phrase door to door and into neighbourhood meetings
   • Caravan: organizes the daily stops across the regions with the two together
   • Relays and creators: post the video and footage at the same time, at home and abroad

   What to measure: Door-to-door conversations and cell meetings where the substitute was introduced with the phrase, counted by cell and by area; where the count is zero, the caravan goes there first.

   Risks to watch: The formula personalizes the project and can crack later; in Senegal the two split in 2026. Give the programme a name, and never use deepfakes or fake messages from a jailed leader who can't deny them.

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3. Money from the base, with targets by country

   Fundraising from members and the diaspora with targets by section and by country, every contribution logged with a receipt and the accounts published. In Senegal, Pastef sections in five countries declared 356 million CFA francs in January 2024 (figures declared by the party itself).

   How to set it up, step by step

   Works when

   It works when the media and traditional funders are closed to you and there is a base, or a diaspora, willing to pay for the fight.

   Don't use when

   It fails with opaque money or donations the law forbids: check whether your country accepts contributions from abroad before you ask.

   1. Week −30 Check with lawyers what the law allows: caps, donations from abroad, receipts
   2. Week −28 Set up a finance office and a log sheet for each section
   3. Week −26 Set targets by section and by country, and contribution tiers per member
   4. Week −20 Hold diaspora fundraising events and run an online crowdfunder with receipts
   5. Week −12 Publish how much each section raised and what it paid for
   6. Week −4 Ring-fence funds for lawyers, caravans and support for detainees and their families
   7. 2 week(s) after Report to the authorities and to the base after the vote

   Team

   • Finance: runs the collections, logs every contribution and reports
   • Diaspora coordination: one section per country, with its own board and fundraising target
   • Legal: confirms what the law allows before each collection

   What to measure: Number of contributors with a receipt per section, against each country's target. Count people, not just amounts: many small contributions show a living base.

   Risks to watch: Opacity hands arguments to your opponent and to the courts: a receipt for everything, published accounts and no donation from a forbidden source.

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4. Relays that survive an internet shutdown

   The leadership records; relay groups and creators spread it across formats and platforms; and when the networks are cut, the message moves by VPN, SMS, calls, radio and cell meetings. In Senegal, Proton VPN sign-ups rose 100,000% in June 2023, but a VPN is no use in a total blackout.

   How to set it up, step by step

   Works when

   It works where the government has already blocked platforms or cut mobile data, or could do so in the decisive weeks.

   Don't use when

   It fails if the guides and back-up channels only go out after the cut, or if you use fake accounts to get round blocks.

   1. Week −20 Set up groups by cell and by country, with controlled entry and back-up admins
   2. Week −16 Hand out the VPN and encrypted-messaging guide before any shutdown
   3. Week −14 Build phone trees and consented SMS lists, cell by cell
   4. Week −12 Agree with community radio and diaspora accounts to relay messages on shutdown days
   5. Week −8 Rehearse a blackout day: the message must reach every cell without mobile data
   6. Week −1 Record the critical final-stretch messages in advance
   7. D-day week Remove anyone detained from the groups at once and document every shutdown

   Team

   • Digital relays: receive the material and adapt it for students, workers and emigrants
   • Security: controls who joins the groups and teaches VPN and encrypted messaging
   • Cell lead: passes the message on by phone, SMS and meeting when the internet drops

   What to measure: Share of cells that, in the blackout rehearsal, passed the message on by SMS, call or meeting and confirmed back the same day.

   Risks to watch: Open groups get infiltrated and contact lists become evidence against activists: control entry, collect only what you need, check whether VPNs are legal in your country and never use inauthentic accounts.

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5. A broad front for the election date

   Allies who don't need to back the candidate to defend an election on the right date (civil society, unions, religious leaders, teachers and other candidates), using peaceful marches, strikes, vigils and court challenges. In Senegal, Aar Sunu Election brought together around 40 groups, and on 15 February 2024 the Constitutional Council struck down the postponement.

   How to set it up, step by step

   Works when

   It works when the government threatens the electoral calendar or the opposition's right to run freely, and some institutions still hold.

   Don't use when

   It fails as a front for one party or with violent streets; where the courts aren't independent, don't rely on the legal route alone.

   1. Week −50 Map who defends the rules of the game even without backing the candidate
   2. Week −48 Write a short platform on rules and dates, with no candidate's name
   3. Week −40 Build bridges with unions, religious leaders, observers and other candidates
   4. Week −6 When the calendar is threatened, go to court and call peaceful actions
   5. Week −6 If a march is banned, postpone it and keep up the pressure within the law
   6. Week −2 Train polling-station observers and agree how to publish results by station
   7. D-day week On the day, observe the stations and publish the results by station

   Team

   • Civil-society bridges: talk to unions, religious leaders and observers
   • Legal: prepares the challenges and tracks electoral deadlines
   • Observers: watch the polling stations and record results by station

   What to measure: Share of the organizations that signed the platform which brought their members to at least one in-person action: a march, vigil, strike or court hearing.

   Risks to watch: At least 65 people died in protests in Senegal between 2021 and 2023: call only peaceful, lawful actions, postpone when they are banned, and never use the dead or detained as mobilization content.

   Add to my kitIn my kit

Senegal's sequence set out as a checklist. Your progress is saved in this browser.

Organizing under repression makes shortcuts more tempting. The rules below protect people, the movement's credibility and its defense in court.

No violence

Don't call for it, celebrate it or threaten it. Between 2021 and 2023 at least 65 people died in protests in Senegal; every death is a tragedy and an argument for more repression.

Money in the open

Record every contribution, issue receipts and account for it. Check whether your country's law allows donations from abroad or from foreigners.

Activist safety

Protect names and contacts. Use pseudonyms when necessary, control who joins the groups and remove anyone detained immediately.

Working around isn't lying

Using a VPN to access information is different from creating fake accounts. Check whether VPNs are legal in your country, and never use inauthentic accounts.

Real people only

No fake profiles, bots or bought accounts to inflate hashtags. Coordinating real people to say what they think is allowed; what platforms punish is organizing likes, follows or hashtags to game the algorithm. X, for example, bans trading engagement and using a trending hashtag to manipulate the conversation.

Sourced facts

Confirm casualty, arrest and result figures before sharing. Correct yourself in public when you get it wrong.

Consent

Only add people to groups if they asked. Data protection laws apply during campaigns too.

Paid creators disclosed

If a content creator is paid, say so. Volunteer collaboration should also be identified as support.

Label AI

Content generated or altered with AI is labeled. Never deepfakes, above all of a jailed leader who can't deny them.

Local law

Rules on parties, coalitions, funding, election observation and demonstrations differ from country to country. Check with lawyers before you act.

A VPN won't beat a blackout

It gets around platform blocks, not a total shutdown. And with a VPN, accounts appear to be in another country and can lose local reach.

Social media isn't enough

Faye's own accounts were small; what decided it was the network, the caravans and the civic front.

It depends on institutions that hold firm

Without a Constitutional Council willing to strike down the postponement, and armed forces that stayed out of politics, the election might not have happened in March.

The amnesty came at a price

The law that freed Sonko and Faye covered acts linked to the 2021–2024 protests. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International warned it could grant impunity to officials responsible for abuses during the crackdown.

Personalization comes back

In May 2026 Faye dismissed Sonko as prime minister and the two split; commentators pointed to the ambiguity of the “X is Y” formula.

Little transparency about the inside

Pastef's internal organization is poorly documented, and the amounts raised are the party's own declarations. Don't mistake the account for the proof.

Five questions, each explained after you answer.

Free materials from organizations that train organizers, linked to this case.

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  CANVAS report on how movements defend elections under authoritarian regimes: monitoring, mobilization and responding to fraud. Background reading for Serbia and Hungary.

• Civil Resistance: A First Look

  Video · International Center on Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC) · EN

  ICNC's introductory video on why civil resistance works and how movements win. A good opener for a training.

• Digital Security Helpline

  Community · Access Now · EN / ES / PT

  Free 24/7 helpline for activists, journalists and rights defenders facing hacked accounts, attacks or surveillance. Save the contact before you need it.

Library

This playbook is built from statements by Pastef leaders and activists, civil society spokespeople, the French-language Senegalese press, academic analysis and data from digital rights organizations, accessed on October 26, 2026. Sources in Wolof were not consulted directly.

Updated 26 October 2026