In a column dated January 9, 2019, entitled « I accuse Ousmane Sonko on specific facts », I revealed his unorthodox land transactions and his serious money-related flaws. But the man, unable to beat down the factual elements provided and which were open to everyone to verify for themselves, tried to get out of it by a pirouette, simply affirming that « Madiambal is a liar ». He will even pour in imbecility to say that « it is because of his lies that he is all black ». I have never ceased to lay bare, always with, in support, irrefutable factual elements, the great danger he represents for civil peace, national harmony (he ended up introducing into the Senegalese political debate the dangerous virus of ethnicity) and above all national security.

It is in this spirit that on May 15, 2023, in my column entitled “Ousmane Sonko, the flight of an encircled man”, I challenged him on essential questions. Guest of the Faraam Facce program of Tfm, Wednesday May 17, 2023, hosted by Papa Ngagne Ndiaye, I insisted on these different points.

1. On his shameful posture of fleeing his trials against Adji Sarr and Mame Mbaye Niang, while he proclaimed on all the roofs and in all tones his impatience for a battle in the bar of the courts. 

2. His acquaintances with the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (Mfdc), in particular on his visits to the maquis, in particular the meeting with the warlord Salif Sadio, on the night of January 5 to 6, 2023, accompanied by 13 « wise men » of Blouf. He must have known there would be a card up a sleeve. For example, that, among this group of about twenty people present, there could have been some who could have been tempted to immortalize this moment by images or audio recordings. A reminder, lest I forget that in March 2021, after the violent riots which had caused 14 deaths, Ousmane Sonko had given a public order « to the fighters of the Mfdc to lower their arms ».

Read the column: Ousmane Sonko, the Flee of a Surrounded Man

3. I also mentioned his escapade with Barthélémy Dias, on January 21, 2022, to Guinea-Bissau. They had taken different routes, because Ousmane Sonko, who was under the regime of a judicial review to which the investigating judge in charge of the case of rape and other sexual abuses complaints by Ms. Adji Sarr, had to hide to cross the border. An agent from a public health structure in Ziguinchor served as a guide for them to sneak between the security checkpoints.

4. Ousmane Sonko also had to respond to the visit of a henchman sent to me to foment a stupid assassination attempt. An incredible story that I made public (see also « Ousmane Sonko’s latest stupid manoeuvre » December 5, 2022). I warned that he would eventually give us a wacky story of attempted poisoning.

5. Still on Pape Ngagne Ndiaye’s Faraam facce program on Tfm, I indicated that Ousmane Sonko, directly or indirectly, send me emissaries to negotiate with the Macky Sall regime. It is appropriate to emphasize that to these various emissaries, I systematically used clear and precise language, in particular requiring such and such a pledge or emphasizing that he was the exclusive requestor and that he was not entitled to any claim, and that if I were to attempt anything, it would be at my sole discretion and on my terms. Thus, I put water in the mill of Barthélémy Dias who had revealed that Ousmane Sonko had asked for discussions with Macky Sall.

Certainly, the public remains eager for answers from Ousmane Sonko on these fundamental questions and expectations were high to see him clarify all this, especially given his announcement, the day after my appearance on Faaram Facce, that he was going for a big interview on the Walfadjri channel on Friday May 19, 2023. All viewers were able to observe the cowardice with which he evaded all these questions. This hardly surprises, the character who never confronts his critics in a fair way, « he always pleads by prosecutor ». But what surprised and amazed me the most was that Pape Alé Niang, a journalist, agreed to serve as a “Trojan horse” for him and tried to discredit my word.

Pape Alé devotes himself to Ousmane Sonko’s honour

I must sincerely express my sadness and my embarrassment, even if it means self-violence, to have to answer Pape Alé. Responding to a question from Pape Ngagne Ndiaye to Tfm, which relayed accusations made in the media, that Madiambal did not support Pape Alé Niang during the trials of his imprisonment whilst Pape Alé actively mobilized in favor of the release of Madiambal Diagne during my imprisonment in 2004, I answered: “I am not sure that Pape Alé, his family, his friends, his lawyers would say that. Those who don’t know, don’t know. I won’t say more. »

Read the column: Ousmane Sonko’s Latest Silly Manoeuvre

Stung by I don’t know what fly, Pape Alé not only poured out on my account through the living rooms of Dakar but, oh sacrilege, posted an insulting tweet about me. He dared to use Ousmane Sonko’s usual rhetoric: “Madiambal you know in your soul and conscience that you are not telling the truth. None of my family knows you. I will go into detail about how your newspaper Le Quotidien shamelessly tried to sink me with abominable lies. Fen dou bediaw » (Editor’s note: an expression in the Wolof language which would mean that a lie never lasts). Upon discovering this tweet that I do not deserve, embarrassed sisters and brothers called me to express their sadness, their disgust.  As Alexandre Dumas would say, « there are services so great that one can only pay for them through ingratitude ». I confess that I had sincerely hoped that after this moment of bewilderment, Pape Alé would come to his senses to make amends, as I have no doubt that some of his relatives must have spoken to him. But I lost sight that the devoted forgets himself and puts his guru above everything. 

Indeed, during his first arrest, on November 6, 2022, Lika Sidibé, Aïssatou Mbène Kane and Daouda Mine had, each individually, called me asking me to get involved in order to obtain provisional release for Pape Alé. Niang. After many steps of which I kept my young colleague’s friends regularly informed (steps which, it must be said, were very laborious), I can say that I was able to be one of the people who had worked for the release of Pape Alé Niang leading to the public prosecutor not to oppose the request for provisional release. Pape Alé Niang was released from prison and placed under judicial control, assigned to strict measures. Less than a week later, Pape Alé Niang will be talked about again and was rearrested. The judge revised the judicial control measure to place him in detention. Despite the embarrassment, Lika Sidibé returned to the charge. There remained only three of them, in the support committee for Pape Alé Niang made up of ten journalists, namely Lika Sidibé, Ibrahima Lissa Faye and Mamadou Thior. Lika was my exclusive contact. 

For his part, Pape Alé Niang’s lawyer, Moussa Sarr, asked to meet me on December 26, 2022. He explained that Pape Alé Niang should be saved from himself, because he risked dying from his hunger strike. Lawyer Sarr said he had come to ask me, after discussions with the family of Pape Alé Niang, in particular his wife and his brother Maguette Niang (the esteem and empathy that I have for Maguette are known to the highest authorities of the State). I stressed to Lawyer Sarr the need to give serious pledges to avoid a new recidivism and that it was sine qua non for me to intervene again in this case. Lawyer Sarr agreed with me and promised to demand a handwritten letter, signed by Pape Alé Niang, committing to scrupulously respecting the conditions of a new judicial review.

Lawyer Moussa Sarr left me, deciding to go on his own to visit his client in prison to discuss it. He sent me the signed document, less than two hours after our meeting, that is to say on December 26, 2022. This means that, obviously, Pape Alé was impatient to put an end to his ordeal. I had the writing authenticated by Lika Sidibé who worked closely with Pape Alé on Sud Fm radio. The contents read: “Following the request of my parents, my family and my lawyers, I undertake to no longer speak of the file and its details. I will also no longer comment on the defense and security forces and the authorities who embody them, until the final settlement of the file concerning me.” I then seized the state authorities. This time, everyone braced themselves and even reproached me for my intervention. Never mind! I insisted, sometimes flying into a rage until a minister said to me: « Anyway, you’re putting pressure on us to release him by asking the prosecution not to object, but you’ll be the first he will insult afterwards”. I replied: « Too bad, you too have little brothers who can insult you and even bite you, but that doesn’t prevent them from remaining your little brothers and you will continue to help them in case of need”. Finally, President Macky Sall had to instruct that the Public Prosecutor no longer oppose the request for provisional release. Pape Alé Niang will thus be released from prison.

There is no glory to be drawn from all this, but it seems necessary to re-establish the truth of the facts. Better, on March 30, 2023, Pape Alé Niang was granted an interview with the rebel Mamadou Nkrumah Sané, member of the Mfdc and had announced the broadcast. I immediately alerted his lawyer, Moussa Sarr, to tell him that in the event of the broadcast of such an interview and that if by chance Pape Alé were to be arrested again, I would no longer agree to try to get him out of prison. Less than half an hour later, Lawyer Sarr confirmed to me that Pape Alé Niang had given up on the broadcast. The journalist also posted a tweet announcing: “on the advice of my lawyers, I renounce the broadcast of the interview with Nkrumah Sané SG of the Mfdc. Sincere apologies to all the Senegalese who were looking forward to the interview”. 

Once again, I am embarrassed to have to reveal what was supposed to remain between us the protagonists but I feel obliged, especially since the wildlife seeks to seize this pseudo denial of Pape Alé Niang to throw me into the mud. The most amazing thing is the casualness shown by his lawyer when I sent him the insulting Tweet from Pape Alé.  Lawyer Sarr sent me a laconic reply, on Saturday May 20, 2023 at 8:55 a.m.: “Sorry Grand, I did not follow your exchanges. Excellent week-end ». Since then, he has not returned to me. I really expected a different reaction from him! Moreover, Pope Alé Niang, himself in his heart of hearts, must measure the scope of certain of my other timely interventions in his favor. On this occasion, he spoke only of the episode of his imprisonment; I dare to hope that these clarifications will definitively close the parenthesis.

Post scriptum: Alioune Tine invites me to Afrikajom center

The « human rightist » Alioune Tine also does not seem to want to be outdone. Reacting to a sequence of my Tfm interview in which I asked to indicate a member of Afrikajom other than Alioune Tine, he sent me a message on Saturday May 20, 2023:   “Hello Madiambal, I invite you to come see us at Afrikajom Center to see what we are doing. It will be a pleasure to receive you”. I replied: “Thank you for this new invitation. This is not the first time you have invited me to come and visit you. I admit that I have always been cautious because I wanted to avoid appearing like many other personalities who passed through your premises and that you received alone and then posted the images on social networks. These operations seemed to me to be forms of exploitation. Nevertheless, I will try with this invitation to come and see what you are doing”. He immediately replied, “This is for your information. To understand our concept and inform well or fight well”. I replied tit for tat: “You can be sure that I couldn’t fight you, otherwise you wouldn’t ask me insistently to help you rebuild your relationship with your younger brother Macky Sall”. Alioune Tine replied: “Then act”.

By Madiambal DIAGNE / mdiagne@lequotidien.sn

  • Translation by Ndey T. SOSSEH