The Executive Secretariat of the National Food Security Council (SECNSA) has written an open letter to Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko demanding their salaries, which have been unpaid for two months. "Please, Mr. Prime Minister, help us receive our salaries so we can carry out our daily activities," writes SECNSA, adding that their Transvie insurance has been blocked without explanation.

Open letter to Mr. Ousmane SONKO, Prime Minister of Senegal

SE.CNSA staff are demanding their salaries.

Mr. Prime Minister,

The Executive Secretariat of the National Food Security Council (SECNSA) was established by Prime Ministerial Decree No. 3066 of 07/01/2000. It ensures the monitoring and coordination of the implementation of food security policies and programs; regularly assesses the food and nutritional situation of populations, monitors food security indicators for the functional early warning system; monitors the impact of macroeconomic and sectoral policies on food security, produces analyses and reports to enable decision-makers to formulate policies, design and target more effective interventions.

However, the executive secretariat has just been abolished by order No. 034102 of December 26, 2024 without the designation of another body and its administrator to take charge of the administrative and technical issues of the company.

Mr. Prime Minister. The SECNSA staff is under your authority and we have no contact with the Prime Minister's office to receive our letters, information notes, complaints and advice on the reasons for the delays in our salaries, etc. You were a civil servant and you know the sacredness of salaries in a country like Senegal. As of today, the staff is running after two months of salary. These delays have been recurring since October 2024. Our support from TRANSVIE, hospitals, clinics and pharmacies was abruptly stopped without any explanation to the staff, even though the deductions are effective in the pay slips. Why does the payment of salaries seem to generate an almost palpable unease? A misunderstanding that is eating away at the employer-employee relationship!!!

The delay or implicit refusal to pay salaries reflects a dangerous misconception: that of viewing salaries as a favor and not as a legal and moral obligation. At the end of each month, stress engulfs the staff. Employees, tired of waiting, barely dare ask when their salaries will arrive. The field agent unable to pay his rent, the regional office manager forced to beg for credit to feed his family, and so many others. This kind of climate destroys trust and reduces employee motivation to nothing. A salary: a vital resource, not a luxury.

A salary is not just the price of a service. It constitutes a foundation of social stability. Behind every employee, there are financial obligations and family responsibilities. Delaying a salary jeopardizes lives and dreams. Please, Mr. Prime Minister, help us receive our salaries so we can carry out our daily activities to monitor the food insecurity of the population. The State and its partners need our basic information to act quickly and effectively.

The SE-CNSA, a food security monitoring body, estimates that the departments of Podor, Matam, Kanel, Bakel, and Goudiry account for nearly 80% of the 518,509 people most at risk of a severe food crisis between July and August 2025. The work of the SE-CNSA is magnified by all partners involved in food security, nutrition, and resilience. Senegal has become this great sub-regional school of innovation in the fight against food insecurity, recognized by all. CILLS, Agrhymed, FAO, ACF, WFP, and others can attest to the leadership of the SECNSA. Try to maintain, but above all, strengthen the SE-CNSA in this government's drive to combat poverty and underdevelopment and achieve food self-sufficiency.

From the year 2000 until October 2024, and during this period (August-September), the SECNSA is preparing to organize periodic food security, nutrition and resilience surveys for the holding of the harmonized framework meetings which aims to help the country better prevent food crises and, if necessary, quickly identify affected populations as well as appropriate measures to improve their food and nutritional security. For this year, our country risks missing out on this crucial activity that all CILSS member countries organize during the same period.

In October 2024, a monitoring and evaluation mission of the food and pastoral situation of rural populations affected by the exceptional flooding of the Senegal, Gambia and Falémé rivers visited these areas to assess the needs of the populations affected by the floods in order to develop proposals for emergency response programs for the State and its partners. All these reminders to show the importance of the SE. CNSA.

To be honest, Mr. Prime Minister, we are simply demanding our salaries and the logistical resources for field work.