De Kinshasa à Dakar : "Kuluna", la nouvelle arme rhétorique de la politique sénégalaise
On television sets and in social media threads, a word has become a staple of Senegalese public vocabulary in recent months: "Kuluna." The expression, which has become a recurring theme in certain speeches, caused a stir after its use by MP Guy Marius Sagna. During the Jury du Dimanche program on iRadio and iTV on August 10, he declared: "I have no explanation, no justification to give to the Kulunas who stole, embezzled, robbed, and robbed the Senegalese people, and who murdered them to perpetuate their neocolonial and parasitic system." A few days later, he reiterated on his social media: "It is unacceptable to have a judicial system that sends chicken thieves to prison and gives electronic bracelets to the Kulunas who plundered billions from the Senegalese people."
While the word seems to be part of political discussions in Dakar today, it does not come from the local lexicon. As Amadou Diallo, co-founder of CIRI and an international relations specialist, points out, "Kuluna" is first and foremost "a word imported from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)," where it refers to gangs of violent young offenders. These groups, often from disadvantaged neighborhoods, are known for their armed attacks in Kinshasa and other major cities.
In his home country, this phenomenon led to large-scale police operations, such as "Likofi" in 2013-2014, aimed at neutralizing these gangs. More recently, in January 2025, Congolese authorities launched Operation Ndobo (the hook). More than 300 kuluna were arrested and sentenced during 11 mobile court hearings. 127 of the 300 were sentenced to death. Others received sentences of 5, 10, or 20 years.
The term also exists in Congo-Brazzaville, where it is sometimes confused with other expressions, while in Ivory Coast, "microbes" represent a similar reality.
In Senegal, the semantic shift is evident. The word no longer evokes armed criminals, but political or economic figures accused of abuse or predation. According to Amadou Diallo, it is now "used in public debates (...) to designate figures perceived as brutal, extremist, or harmful." In this new usage, it is sometimes used to denounce members of the former regime, sometimes to target supporters of the current government.
But for the international relations specialist, the use of the term is also part of a cultural tradition, that of joking cousinage. This practice, known as kal in Wolof, kathiolor in Diola, dendiraagal in Pulaar, or sanankuya in Mandingo, allows insults or mockery to be used in an accepted social setting. Therefore, using "Kuluna" in Senegalese debate can be a serious accusation, but also a ritualized irony intended to defuse tensions.
"The word Kuluna has a dual dimension, both a political insult and a form of social protest," observes Amadou Diallo. On the one hand, it is an instrument of discredit in the political arena; on the other, a symbol of linguistic creativity.
According to Amadou Diallo, the word's journey from Kinshasa to Dakar reflects "a true African cultural dialogue."
Commentaires (29)
On n’a pas non plus gang de voleurs violeurs assassins au Sénégal
Il faut cesser d appliquer la théorie de l autre moi aussi
Ce Guy Sagna n a pas l imagination fertile c est pourquoi il fait copie coller c est un ignare
autrement dit les kulunus authentiques, originaux sont les pastéfiens issus de milieux défavorisés, évoluant en bandes de casseurs, aigris, violents, destructeurs, etc.
- projet , hop projet projet projet
- focus et hop focus focu focus
- burok et hop burok burok burok
-jub jubal jubanti et hop jub jubal jubanti
- 1000 milliards et hop 1000 milliards 1000 milliards
- horizon 2050 et hop horizon 2050
- jubanti koom et hop jubanti koom
- kuluna et hop kuluna kuluna kuluna
On balance des contre verites dans des groupes whatsapp et des salauds s en aggripent et c le mbep mbep mbep partout
Ces vampires depassent les Kulunas.
Ils ne sont pas armés !?
La langue est une arme!!!
Faut vraiment être bête quoi!
Du n'importe quoi! Faut prouver aussi le compte à 1000 milliards de quoi? Les 4000 cadres de ce parti populiste et incapable trouveront vite la solution
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