A Senegalese government spokesman on Friday said Senegal will summon former president Macky Sall to court after the country’s audit office unveiled irregularities in the treasury’s bookkeeping on his watch.

The ex-president is being accused of having presided over a catastrophic mismanagement of the public purse after an independent report invalidated official figures under his stewardship, revising both debt and the public deficit sharply upwards.

Having lived in Morocco since leaving office last year, Sall has rejected the row over the report, describing it as political.

According to government spokesman, Moustapha Sarre, the former leader, who ruled Senegal between 2012 and 2024, could even be considered as the leader of a gang that committed criminal acts.

“Inevitably he will face justice. He is the person chiefly responsible for the extremely serious acts that were committed.

“Legal proceedings cannot be avoided,” Sarre warned.

The audit office’s report, published on February 12, found accounting discrepancies such as a 2023 budget deficit of 12.3 percent, more than double the 4.9 percent announced under Sall.

Meanwhile, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who was elected president last March, has pledged a clean break from the Sall era.

Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, a longtime opponent of Sall, promised last September to investigate what he said was widespread corruption under the previous administration.

Several former officials have been charged and imprisoned in recent months, including a lawmaker close to Sall on fraud and money laundering charges on Thursday.

Senegal to summon ex-president Sall to court