7TV is an intangible heritage, and no one can erase it from the media space. This was the statement of the private television channel 7TV director, Maïmouna Ndour Faye, after gendarmes raided the premises of 7TV. 

There was a presence of the gendarmerie to « assist the auctioneer » at the headquarters of the 7Tv channel located in Ouakam in the context of a dispute with Gold Media Afrique Sarl. Less than 4 days before the auction of the assets of 3M Universel, the journalist and boss of 7Tv, Maïmouna Ndour Faye, reassures that there will be none. « 7Tv is an intangible heritage, and no one can erase it from the media space. Now, every day, there are difficulties, but I am prepared for that… They cannot grab a single pen. It is a plot. 7Tv is and will remain 7Tv,” assured 7Tv boss, in an interview with Igfm. Maïmouna Ndour Faye, who spoke of “threats” and “intimidation,” remains optimistic.

“I give you a rendez vous on January 6 to see if there will be an auction. There will be no seizure or auction. Now, the procedure is underway… Now, to mislead the public, they have made a decision that dates back to 2018. And this listed equipment, there is no audio-visual equipment, and all the vehicles, moreover, are scrap,” she explains. Indeed, beyond the auction, Maïmouna Ndour Faye goes further. She asks: “How could they mobilize 75 gendarmes just to storm a media in a seizure operation? These gendarmes, I think they were more useful elsewhere… We are in a state of law. And in a democracy, we do not put people in the furnace.”

It should be recalled that Maïmouna Ndour Faye will have to go to court again on January 13, 2025. This auction follows the rejection by the Dakar Commercial Court of the summary proceedings on difficulty filed by 3M Universal Multi-medias Sarl. The Court thus gave the green light to Gold Media Afrique Sarl to continue the forced execution. “On Monday, January 6, 2025 at 10 a.m. and on the following days, if necessary, Lawyer Amadou Thiam Guèye, auctioneer at the Court of Appeal and the courts of Dakar, will proceed with the public auction to the highest and last bidder,” reads a note.

The case concerns a dispute over non-compliance with a moratorium signed in 2016 between 3M Multimedia and Gold Media. Journalist Maïmouna Ndour Faye, head of the company 3M Multimedia, is ordered to pay the sum of 89 million CFA francs to Gold Media. It should also be noted that the gendarmes, who entered the premises with the presumed mission of seizing equipment belonging to the establishment, left the premises without carrying out their mission.
By Ousmane SOW / ousmane.sow@lequotidien.sn

  • Translation by Ndey T. SOSSEH