Accusations of a coup d'etat undermines momentum for march

Senegal is one of the few African states that has never experienced a coup d'état. So when I read this morning's news, I was startled intially.  The military had been warning the government about corruption among the brass and how civilians leaders had also been siphoning off money owed to them by the United Nations for their participation in international peacekeeping operations.  Naturally, I assumed the threat came from the military.  The lack of any news about this "coup d'état"on the radio made it seem even more ominous.  None of my neighbors had heard of it.  I called around to people in Dakar and they were equally in the dark.

Then one article got through the temporary internet black out this morning - the headline read "Senegal says arrests suspected coup plotters." The article states quite succintly that the state prosecutor decided to nip in the bud a plot aimed at a coup d'etat by arresting a number of individuals identified as members of the plot.  What was revealed later was the coup planners were some of the same people organizing today's march.  How convenient!  Another internet site rattled off the names of the suspects, many of them youth organizers.

Hard to say what impact this will have and whether it will indeed nip in the bud the momentum for this march.  I will send an update later this afternoon. 

Here is a longer article on this event : Senegal arrests suspected coup plotters