Senegal’s Opposition Protests Probe Into Ex-President’s Son

Senegal’s main opposition party filed a complaint against a special prosecutor who is leading an investigation into illegal enrichment by members of the previous government, including ex-President Abdoulaye Wade’s son, Karim.

“The law does not permit the prosecutor to investigate this case,” El Hadj Amadou Sall, spokesman for the Parti Democratique Senegalais, or PDS, said in a phone interview from the capital, Dakar. The probe should be handled by the High Court instead, he said.

Karim Wade, who between 2009 and 2012 held a ministerial portfolio that included energy, international cooperation, regional development, air transportation and infrastructure, has been questioned four times by police attached to a special court that investigates fraud and financial crimes. The court was set up by President Macky Sall as part of a pledge to crack down on corruption.

Four PDS officials, including Karim Wade and ex-Mines and Foreign Affairs Minister Madicke Niang, were stopped by police at Dakar’s airport last week as they tried to board a plane to Ivory Coast, Sall said. The officials were prevented from leaving the country on orders of the prosecutor, he said.

“We consider this a serious crime,” Sall said.

In March, Macky Sall defeated 86-year-old Abdoulaye Wade, whose last year in office was marked with violent protests against power cuts and his bid for a third term in power. Sall has ordered audits into state institutions and programs, including a 650 billion-CFA franc ($1.2 billion) energy-crisis program started by Karim Wade.

Macoumba Mbodji, spokesman for the Justice Ministry didn’t answer calls made to his mobile phone.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rose Skelton in Dakar at rskelton7@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Emily Bowers at ebowers1@bloomberg.net