Former Senegalese President Macky Sall has launched a legal counteroffensive following revelations by the country’s Court of Accounts of a “hidden debt” amounting to nearly $7 billion, allegedly accumulated between 2019 and 2024 under his Administration.
Contesting these claims, Sall has appointed French lawyer Pierre-Olivier Sur and a team of Senegalese attorneys to defend his economic record and demand transparency on the matter.
In letters dated 7 October, the lawyers requested access to the report by the General Inspectorate of Finance, which served as the basis for the Court’s findings. The report, submitted in September, has not been published or shared with former officials, a move the defence team says violates due process.
According to Sur, the Court of Accounts conducted its work “in isolation,” without consulting the relevant teams from Sall’s administration, thus breaching the principle of adversarial procedure. The legal team is also seeking access to the Court’s provisional report and budget execution laws that could clarify the fiscal situation.
To ensure a comprehensive defence, the lawyers have engaged experts in public finance to analyse the alleged debt. They insist their goal is to “establish the truth” about Senegal’s financial management during Sall’s Presidency, amid growing political and public scrutiny following the report’s disclosure.