A former Senegalese government minister was charged on Monday in a special court for embezzling COVID-19 funds, AFP reports.
Salimata Diop, who served as the minister for women under former president Macky Sall is one out of five ex-ministers facing the allegation of corruption involving the misuse of funds needed to fight the pandemic.
According to AFP, Diop who was charged with complicity in embezzlement, was released after $97,750 as bail.
On May 2, Senegal’s National Assembly formally lifted the parliamentary immunity of several former officials, enabling judicial proceedings to commence against them as part of a sweeping anti-corruption probe.
Among those under investigation is Fatoumata Diop, who previously held a parliamentary seat, as well as four former cabinet members responsible for community development, mines, industrial development, and justice.
According to a report submitted to the National Assembly, Amadou Mansour Faye, former Minister for Community Development, is accused of misappropriating approximately $4.5 million from a fund designated for Covid-19 response efforts during the 2020–2021 pandemic period. The alleged embezzlement forms the centrepiece of a broader inquiry into suspected financial misconduct under the previous administration.
Earlier this month, lawmakers voted to authorise Senegal’s High Court of Justice to investigate the five former officials, marking one of the first major accountability drives under President Bassirou Diomaye Faye. Elected on an anti-corruption platform, President Faye has pledged to confront graft and mismanagement linked to his predecessor, Macky Sall.
The move has sparked criticism from opposition leaders, who describe the investigation as politically motivated and a form of persecution against figures from the former regime, labelling it a “witch hunt.”
