Assemblée nationale / Débat public : Le respect des bâtisseurs, des investisseurs et l’honneur de la représentation nationale, exigés (Abdoulaye Sylla)
I raise my voice to defend the dignity of public debate, respect for builders, the due consideration for investors, and the honor of national representation. Let us say it loud and clear: when public discourse abdicates, there is a moral failing, a republican indignity, and therefore a duty to rise up.
There are times when silence becomes complicity. There are words which, because they are spoken within the very walls of the national representation, commit far beyond their authors and call for a firm, clear and unequivocal moral condemnation.
What happened in the National Assembly is neither a matter of democratic debate, nor of parliamentary dynamism, nor even of an unfortunate slip of the tongue. It is quite simply a serious breach of public ethics, a moral failing incompatible with the dignity of the parliamentary mandate. When an elected official, incapable of responding to a colleague on the level of ideas, knowingly chooses to attack her father, he is not merely making a blunder: he is crossing a moral line that no representative of the people has the right to ignore. I refuse to ignore it, therefore I raise my voice.
No political disagreement, no ideological tension, no militant stance can justify the exploitation of family ties, the attack on family honor, or personal humiliation. Such behavior constitutes a breach of the very foundations of the Republic, foundations that demand restraint, respect, and a keen sense of responsibility—all the more so in a place meant to embody exemplary conduct.
The Ndingler case, obsessively exploited by some, cannot serve as an alibi for this moral collapse. The facts are known, established, and verifiable. Land allocated following an administrative process, developed by a Senegalese investor, and transformed into an exemplary production hub dedicated to food self-sufficiency. That is the reality, far removed from the clamor.
This investor is Babacar Ngom, founder of Sedima, a major figure in the national private sector and a leading authority in the sub-region. I'm not defending someone for the sake of defending them. I'm standing by a principle, especially since I don't know Babacar Ngom personally and I don't believe I've ever met him. But I know what his career represents: hard work versus demagoguery, production versus hype, and longevity versus improvisation.
Babacar Ngom is a man who has chosen hard work, investment, and dignity. He has invested in and for the country, in several strategic sectors. His commitment to agriculture is neither an opportunistic venture nor a political calculation: it stems from a vision, from a firm commitment to economic patriotism.
And on this subject, it is important to recall a deeply troubling fact that every honest conscience should reflect upon. Overwhelmed by the repeated attacks, Babacar Ngom made the painful decision to cease his activities and even return the land that the authorities had regularly granted him.
This is how far verbal irresponsibility can lead: not to economic failure, but to the moral erosion of a nation-builder.
And while this member of parliament from the majority party was engaging in invective, the Republic itself spoke with gravity. Indeed, on Saturday, December 27, 2025, the President of the Republic, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, elevated Babacar Ngom to the rank of Grand Cross of the National Order of the Lion, the highest honorary distinction in Senegal.
With this solemn act, the Nation recognized a remarkable career and paid tribute to a man whose commitment to serving the country is acknowledged at the highest levels of government. Therefore, the moral failing committed by this member of parliament is all the more glaring.
He could respond politically to his colleague Anta Babacar Ngom, he could do so firmly and without compromise, but he had no moral right to insult his father, much less a father whom the Republic had just honored. This lapse is not merely an ethical failing; it is much more. When you insult Babacar Ngom, you insult a father, but you also insult the national private sector.
To this misguided member of parliament, it must be forcefully reiterated that the national private sector is the backbone of economic sovereignty. It deserves protection, attention, and consideration. Those sitting in the National Assembly should have been its natural defenders, had they fully understood and, above all, embodied the mystique of their mission in service to the nation.
I want to express a personal opinion here.
I spend a significant portion of my time abroad, not out of carelessness, but to keep Senegalese businesses afloat as they grapple with an unprecedented crisis, in a context of sometimes blatant and overt adversity. I am accused of absenteeism in the National Assembly. But does anyone give a single thought to my weighty responsibilities as an investor, obligated to preserve a means of production, to pay salaries, to guarantee the future of thousands of employees in Senegal and abroad, who are also responsible for the daily lives of thousands of families severely impacted by the crisis?
I have never responded to these attacks with hurtful words.
I will never respond to it other than through action, by safeguarding the dignity of my companies, my employees, and all those who depend on them. That is responsibility. That is true patriotism.
For my part, I have always fought for the emergence of a strong, structured, and united national private sector. Today, faced with repeated attacks, misunderstandings, and this toxic climate of crisis, I am making a solemn appeal for the establishment of a unified framework for the national private sector: a space of cohesion, solidarity, and collective responsibility, capable of strengthening our voice, protecting our businesses, and enabling us to live up to our historic mission.
Crises, it is said, reveal weaknesses. If they do not themselves point the way to urgency, let us show that we are not among those who look away. Let us unite our scattered forces, raise our voices, and strengthen our actions. For sovereignty is not proclaimed: it is built, together, over time, through work and dignity.
What happened must be condemned without reservation, not to humiliate, but to remind people of the limits, restore the dignity of public debate and preserve the honor of the Republic.
Abdoulaye Sylla
Investor
Member of the National Assembly
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