Senegal's Macky Sall signs decree scrapping post of Prime Minister

Senegalese president, Macky Sall on Tuesday signed a decree that officially abolished the post of Prime Minister.

“The President of the Republic today promulgated the constitutional law abolishing the post of Prime Minister”, adopted on May 4 by a very large majority of deputies, says a government statement.

The scrapping of the prime minister’s post was initiated by the president at the start of his second term mandate in April which has proven very divisive.

on May 4 , Senegalese parliamentarians approved a constitutional reform which called for the abolition of the post of Prime Minister.

124 mps voted in favour of the reform with only seven against while, 7 others abstained.

Supporters of the reform argue the abolition of the prime minister’s position will help the president to work faster in fulfilling his campaign promises. These include the creation of one million jobs and the construction of more than 100,000 houses in 5 years .

But critics say it is a ploy by the president to wield more powers adding it is an affront to democracy in the country.

Senegal, which is a democratic model in Africa, scrapped the post of Prime Minister in the 1960s under the presidency of Léopold Sédar Senghor and in the early 1980s under the presidency of Abdou Diouf.