Youssou N'Dour Running For Senegalese Presidency

Senegalese superstar Youssou N'Dour officially announced earlier this week that he is running for President of Senegal. In a broadcast on his privately-owned TFM television network, he laid to rest months of speculation since he announced the suspension of his music career and the formation of his own political movement in November.

'I have listened... and I am responding favourably,' N'Dour said, in response to his supporters' calls for him to run against eighty five year old President Abdoulaye Wade.

The runup to the poll taking place on 26 February has been dominated by the constitutional row over whether Wade has the right to stand for a third term. The revised Senegalese constitution limits presidential terms to two, but Wade argues that the amendment occured after he had begun his first stint in office. 

'It is a supreme patriotic duty,' N'Dour said of his Presidential bid.'I haven't pursued higher education, but the presidency is a function and not a job.' Watch his broadcast taken from the Guardian website below.