Senegal’s President announces referendum on constitutional reform
On Monday, the Senegalese National Assembly passed a constitutional reform aimed at curtailing the president’s powers and strengthening the legislature. Following an extensive debate, 129 of the 165 members of parliament voted in favour. No votes were cast against the measure after opposition parties had walked out of the session beforehand. Afterwards, Justice Minister Moussa Sarr announced that President Bassirou Diomaye Faye intended to submit the reform to a national referendum in accordance with the Constitution.
The proposed constitutional amendment was put forward by the Patriotes africains du Sénégal pour le travail, l’éthique et la fraternité (PASTEF) party, which holds 130 of the 165 seats in Parliament and to which both President Faye and the recently dismissed Prime Minister and new Speaker of Parliament, Ousmane Sonko, belong. According to official statements, the reform is intended to reinforce the separation of powers between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government. Specifically, the reform would strengthen parliamentary oversight by expanding MPs’ investigative powers and requiring the government to disclose agreements concerning natural resources to Parliament. Parliamentary committees would also be granted greater powers, and the Constitutional Council would be replaced by a Constitutional Court with enhanced authority, the number of whose members would be increased from seven to nine. In addition, the incumbent President would no longer be permitted to serve simultaneously as the leader of a political party. The reform would also make it more difficult for him to dissolve the National Assembly or to sign certain legislation during the period between the presidential election and the inauguration of the new President.
During the debate, the opposition rejected the proposed constitutional amendments, arguing that they reflected the ongoing power struggle between President Faye and former Prime Minister Sonko and amounted to an act of political revenge by Sonko rather than a genuine effort at constitutional reform. After opposition MP Abdou Mbow failed in his attempt to adjourn the vote and refused to leave the speaker’s podium, Parliamentary Speaker Sonko had him removed by security staff. In protest, all but one opposition MPs subsequently walked out of the National Assembly. Outside the parliament building, there was also a demonstration involving around 50 people, the majority of whom are said to have been supporters of former head of state Macky Sall’s party, the Alliance pour la République (APR). According to reports, demonstrators attempted to storm the building. Media accounts suggest the police responded with tear gas and made several arrests.
In addition to the opposition, several civil society organisations have also criticised the proposed reform and called for the proposed amendment to be withdrawn. Meanwhile, Aminata Touré, the coordinator of the presidential coalition, stated that parliament was being used to weaken the president. The proposed incompatibility of the offices of president and party leader is seen as a direct attack on President Faye, who has lost a great deal of support within his own party. The reform would make it more difficult for him to found his own party ahead of the next presidential election in 2029.
Observers see the latest developments as a further escalation in the rift between party colleagues Bassirou Diomaye Faye and Ousmane Sonko. The dispute reached an initial peak at the end of May, when President Faye dissolved the government and dismissed Sonko as Prime Minister. However, Sonko was subsequently elected by members of parliament as President of the National Assembly. One of the reasons for the disagreement is the handling of Senegal’s economic and debt crisis and its dealings with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) (Press Review CW 22/2026). Following Sonko’s dismissal, Senegal hosted an IMF delegation in mid-June to signal its willingness to cooperate. To strengthen economic cooperation and attract new investment, President Faye also travelled to Germany at the end of June, where he met, amongst others, Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
President Faye has not yet commented personally on the latest developments, nor on a specific date for the referendum or how it will be conducted. The expected outcome of the vote is also unclear.
Uganda’s army chief orders closure of media group
On Sunday, the Commander of the Ugandan People’s Defence Forces, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, ordered the closure of the Ugandan branch of the Nation Media Group (NMG). NMG is regarded as one of East Africa’s largest independent media groups and is headquartered in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. Its portfolio includes the television channels Spark TV and NTV Uganda, the daily newspaper Daily Monitor, several radio stations, and the regional weekly newspaper The EastAfrican. According to reports, security forces were deployed in the early hours of the morning to halt the broadcast operations and editorial work of the Daily Monitor. The latter reported on X that armed soldiers were stationed outside the newspaper’s headquarters in the capital, Kampala, as well as outside the premises of its sister organisations, preventing staff from entering or leaving the offices.
On the social media platform X, military chief Kainerugaba – who is also the son of President Yoweri Museveni, in office since 1986, and is widely regarded as his successor (Press Review CW 4/2026) – stated that he did not believe in a free press, as it was harmful to the country. He further stated that he had been granted the necessary powers by his father to shut down any media outlet he disapproved of. On the same day, he also ordered via X the arrest of the managing director of NMG Uganda, Susan Nsibirwa, but later revoked this order. There was initially no official statement from the government or the relevant communications authorities. Later, Justine Lumumba Kasule, Minister for Information and Communications, explained that the suspension of NMG’s operations was due to a security-related investigation ordered by President Museveni.
Observers attribute the closure of the NMG to its critical reporting on Kainerugaba’s influence over national institutions, particularly Parliament. Criticism of Kainerugaba’s current actions has come, amongst others, from civil society, which views the measures as a disregard for media freedom and the principles of the rule of law. Amnesty International strongly condemned the events and accused the head of the military of waging a campaign of intimidation against independent media. The closure of the media group also drew criticism internationally. US Senator Jim Risch, Chair of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, described Kainerugaba’s actions as an attack on media freedom and stated that the US would have to review its security relations with Uganda. The measures rendered Kainerugaba and the Ugandan armed forces “unsuitable partners”.
The closure of NMG is the latest in a long series of conflicts between the media group and the state authorities, including raids on the Daily Monitor and Dembe FM in 2013, as well as the 10-day closure of NTV Uganda in 2007. At the same time, observers view it as part of the growing crackdown on opposition voices, independent media and civil society in Uganda. As recently as Sunday, the former minister and human rights activist Miria Matembe was arrested after accusing Kainerugaba of serious human rights violations. Prominent opposition figures such as Kizza Besigye also remain in custody, whilst Bobi Wine, who came second in the presidential election in January as the National Unity Platform (NUP) candidate, has fled the country.
Meanwhile, the managing director of NMG Uganda told international media that negotiations were already underway at various levels regarding the resumption of journalistic activities. Kainerugaba confirmed this on X. Accordingly, once the talks have concluded, final approval is to be sought from President Museveni.
In other news – World Cup Special
Following a strong group stage, under the new tournament format, nine African nations have reached the knockout stages of the Men’s World Cup – more than ever before. On Sunday, South Africa kicked off the round of 32 with a match against co-hosts Canada. However, the ‘Bafana Bafana’ suffered a 0–1 defeat in the very first World Cup knockout match in their history. The tournament also came to an end for Côte d’Ivoire following the first knockout-round match in their association’s history. After falling behind 1–0, the team initially managed to equalise, before Norway scored the winning goal to make it 2–1 in the closing stages. On Wednesday, the Democratic Republic of the Congo lost a hard-fought match 1–2 to England. The ‘Leopards’ had taken the lead through an early goal by Brian Cipenga in the seventh minute. It was only towards the end of the match that Harry Kane turned the game around in England’s favour with two goals. Senegal, too, had to admit defeat despite leading for much of the match. The team dominated large parts of the game against Belgium and was leading 2–0 until shortly before the end, before Belgium equalised in the 86th and 89th minutes to make it 2–2. In extra time, a penalty in the 119th minute sealed a 3–2 victory for Belgium. On Thursday night, Algeria lost to Switzerland. Despite a strong start from the Algerians, Switzerland took an early lead and sealed the result with a 2–0 goal just 46 seconds after the restart in the second half. This brought to an end Algeria’s first World Cup campaign since 2014, when the team were knocked out by Germany in the round of 16. On Friday evening, Egypt will face Australia, before the final two matches of the round of 32 see Cabo Verde take on Argentina and Ghana face Colombia.