Man Fined 50 Million Cfa Francs For Selling Land Belonging To Late Tivaouane Caliph

I Dièye, a businessman and former talibé at the daara of the late Serigne Mansour Sy “Borom Daraji”, was prosecuted for fraud. He is accused of selling two adjacent plots of land to AA Lô which belonged to the caliph’s family and were located in the Dabakh subdivision of Tivaouane, for 48 million CFA francs.

In taking his plea before the court, Dièye denied any fraudulent intent. He maintained that he purchased the plots in 2011 from Serigne Mansour Sy himself for 12 million CFA francs, in the presence of the then-prefect and several witnesses. He asserted that the heirs were aware of this transaction and that Serigne Habib Sy, the son of the deceased, had given his consent prior to the sale, which was concluded in 2025.

Matters took a turn for the worse when AA Lô, who had begun construction, was ordered by Serigne Habib Sy to stop work on the site. The buyer subsequently took action against the seller by filing a complaint. The investigation revealed a different account of events. The marabout’s son had allegedly asked the defendant to wait, as several individuals had been laying claim to plots of land on the site since his father’s death, a version of events that I. Dièye continued to dispute.

Omar Faty, the lawyer for the plaintiff, denounced the situation as a fraudulent scheme. According to him, the defendant misled his client into believing that Serigne Habib Sy had given his approval, and then proceeded with the sale despite having neither a title deed nor a bill of sale. He requested 58 million CFA francs in damages.

For his part, the prosecutor questioned the validity of an administrative certificate dated 12th March, 2012 which the included the phrase “Ex Serigne Mansour Sy”, arguing this suggested that the marabout was already deceased —even though he did not pass away until December 2012. The prosecutor requested a three-month suspended prison sentence and a fine of 100,000 CFA francs.

The defence counsel on the other hand argued that his client had indeed acquired the land in the presence of witnesses and had obtained an official document from the prefect. He added that the buyer had personally secured a Nicad (a certificate of administrative authorisation for land development), which, in his view, ruled out any notion of fraud. He therefore requested an acquittal. The court did not agree. Dièye was found guilty, sentenced to a three-month suspended prison term, and ordered to pay 50 million CFA francs in damages to the plaintiff.

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