THE HYPER-EXPENSIVE HONOUR OF OUR FRIEND, PRINCE MBAYE NIANG
Editorial by MAMADOU OUMAR NDIAYE, veteran journalist and
Director of “Le Temoin” newspaper 17 March 2023
Never before has a libel trial required the deployment of
battle tanks and the laying of siege to a defendant's home. Never has a
plaintiff had so many privileges as our Minister of Tourism in the face of a
defendant, a man blessed by the gods, a golden offspring, a "Coumba Am
Ndey" (Refers to a Wolof saying; Coumba am ndey, Coumba amoul ndey – meaning;
one rule for one, one rule for the other), a pampered plaintiff. A Senegalese whose "honour", well,
we suppose he has some, - is so priceless that one should not even venture to
evaluate it. His value exceeds all understanding, all that one can reasonably
imagine. This is why, when he intends to wash it away in court, the scales of
justice go haywire, tipping outrageously to one side, his own of course, and
Themis the goddess of justice goes into a panic. Are citizens equal before the
law?
This is rubbish when the citizen in question is called Mame
Mbaye Niang, when he is a deputy minister of the Republic and the darling of
the First Lady! And when his 'honour' - since he tells us he has some! - is at
stake.
In this country, we have seen the Minister of State Abdoulaye
Wade (in the role at the time, under
President Abdou Diouf) bring a libel complaint against a the "Le
Témoin" newspaper and it’s Director Mamadou Oumar Ndiaye. Before that, as
a simple opponent, Abdoulaye Wade had
brought the late director of the national daily "Le Soleil", Bara
Diouf, before the courts and then, in a gesture of grandeur withdraw his
complaint at the bar of the court. We saw the wealthy Jean-Claude Mimran take
the then all-powerful Sud Communication group to court. We saw the brothers
Pierre-Babacar and Mansour, then at the height of their influence, sue a
newspaper. Or, the then much feared French publisher Joël Decupper, owner of
the magazine Africa, sue Béchir Ben Yahmad, whose newspaper 'Jeune Afrique' was
- and still is a leading influencer on the continent.
All these defamation cases were judged by the Senegalese
justice system. The law was ruled on, some defendants were convicted, others
were acquitted. The fact remains that these trials were held in accordance with
the rules of the game, with more or less large crowds, depending on the
notoriety of the parties. But never, never, were the defendants and their accompanying
lawyers in these defamation cases gassed, manhandled by the police and taken in
an almost unconscious state to the courtroom! Never were any of them taken
before the judges hand and foot, no matter how powerful the plaintiffs were.
Never have their vehicles been carjacked by the police, never have their car doors
been broken into, never have they been forcibly removed and transported in Police
vans.
Above all, never during all these trials has the economy
been paralysed, schools closed, shop shutters lowered, and the city placed in a
state of emergency. Never has there been ransacking amounting to billions of
francs - Dakar Dem Dikk bus company) alone has estimated its damage at 400
million with three burnt buses and three others stoned -, never has there been
a climate of civil war, or at least of insurrection, marked by clashes between
young people and the forces of order. None of these legal cases has ever
brought our country to the brink of chaos. Never has a libel trial required the
mobilisation of hundreds of police and gendarmes, the deployment of armoured
cars, the laying of siege to a defendant's home. In short, never before has a
plaintiff had so many privileges over a defendant.
The 2024 presidential election, the real stake in an
extraordinary trial
In reality, everyone has understood that by choosing to file
a complaint against the leader of the opposition and hyper-favourite candidate
for the 2024 presidential election, Mame Mbaye Niang does not give a damn about
his own honour because what interests him is to have an opponent convicted and his
candidacy invalidated. We know such a conviction is not difficult when aware of,
let's say, the “benevolence” of our justice system towards the Executive, and
the resulting difficulty of escaping defamation suits!
In these conditions, this unusual case with the real issue
at stake being whether or not a serious presidential
contender can take part in the 2024 presidential election, it is not surprising
that the supporters of this candidate are putting up a fight. They are ready to
do anything to ensure that their
champion is not the sacrificial lamb of the judicial process. Especially when
this same Justice has already “slit the throats” of the two candidates (by
disqualifying them through convictions) likely to constitute obstacles to the
re-election of Mame Mbaye Niang’s boss in the 2019 presidential election!
In any case, the supposed honour of Mame Mbaye Niang is
worth more than the combined honours of all the illustrious civil parties
mentioned above and is more important than the social stability of this
country. Senegal can burn, civil war can take hold, human lives can be lost,
infrastructures destroyed, the economy collapsed, properties ransacked... none
of this matters as long as the honour of Mame Mbaye Niang is cleared! In Saudi
Arabia, we know the super-powerful Mohamed Ben Salman alias MBS, the real
holder of the throne, but in Senegal we have Prince MMBN!
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