Gambiaj.com – (DAKAR, Senegal) – The long-running Sweet Beauty scandal in Senegal has resurfaced with fresh allegations and renewed calls for the case to be reopened, nearly six years after allegations against Ousmane Sonko first plunged the country into one of its most explosive political and social crises.
The latest twist came Sunday when Ndèye Khady Ndiaye, the former owner of the Sweet Beauty massage parlor and a central figure in the case, made new claims during a live broadcast watched by more than 20,000 people.
Ndiaye, who appeared on a live session hosted by Senegalese influencer Kaliphone Sall, suggested that videos potentially damaging to Sonko exist but stopped short of confirming their contents or publicly stating whether they directly support Adji Raby Sarr’s allegations.
When Sall pressed her to answer simply “yes” or “no” on whether such videos existed, Ndiaye declined to give a direct answer. She said she would not make such a disclosure during a public livestream, leaving the issue unresolved but adding fresh fuel to a controversy that has repeatedly returned to the Senegalese public sphere.
A dramatic change of position
Ndiaye’s latest statements come after an apparent change in her position on events surrounding the Sweet Beauty affair.
The former salon owner, who testified in Sonko’s favor during the scandal, recently announced that she wanted to revisit some of the statements she made in 2021. During a TikTok livestream involving Adji Sarr and others, including Amzozo, Ndiaye apologized to Sarr and said she had lied about several elements of the affair.
She subsequently promised to “put everything on the table,” raising questions about what she now intends to disclose and whether her revised account could alter public perceptions of a case that has already gone through the courts.
The apparent reversal is particularly striking because Ndiaye had said only a few months ago that she had rejected an offer of 2.5 billion CFA francs to change her version of events and implicate Sonko.
That earlier claim, like the new allegations, has not been independently established. But her decision to publicly say she had lied in some of her previous statements has given fresh momentum to speculation about what happened behind the scenes during the original investigation and trial.
Fresh claim of 38 million CFA francs
Against that backdrop, Ndiaye also alleged during Sunday’s broadcast that she received 38 million CFA francs from Ousmane Sonko through one of his associates.
The claim has not been independently established, and no evidence supporting the alleged payment was presented during the livestream. Nevertheless, the allegation has added another layer to a case that has remained politically and emotionally charged since it first emerged.
The latest developments came just 48 hours after Ndiaye appeared alongside Adji Raby Sarr in another widely followed livestream, where the two women publicly reconciled.
That reconciliation itself was significant because their relationship and testimony became central to the Sweet Beauty affair, which began after Sarr accused Sonko of rape and death threats.
Adji Sarr calls for the case to be reopened.
During Friday’s livestream, Sarr made a renewed appeal for the reopening of the Sweet Beauty case.
She said she remained dissatisfied with the judicial outcome, under which Sonko was acquitted of rape and death threats but convicted of “corrupting the youth.”
“I am ready for the reopening of the Sweet Beauty case,” Sarr said, insisting that justice should be done.
Her demand has brought renewed attention to the unresolved questions surrounding the case, despite the fact that Senegalese courts have already delivered a judgment in the proceedings against Sonko.
Several women who participated in the livestream also expressed support for efforts to secure legal protection for Sarr should she return to Senegal to participate in any possible reopening of the case.
Sarr, however, said responsibility for her security would rest exclusively with her lawyers and that she had not asked for any special arrangements.
A scandal that continues to cast a shadow
The Sweet Beauty affair has proved remarkably resistant to disappearing from Senegal’s political landscape.
What began as a criminal allegation against a prominent opposition politician evolved into a national political crisis, triggering deadly protests, deepening political divisions and becoming a major part of the political struggle that ultimately reshaped Senegal.
Sonko, who is now one of Senegal’s most powerful political figures, has consistently denied the rape allegations. His political rise, together with the eventual election of Bassirou Diomaye Faye, did not end public debate over the affair.
Instead, the latest statements by Ndiaye and Sarr have once again pushed the controversy into the spotlight.
Ndiaye’s promise to revisit her earlier testimony, coupled with her claims about alleged videos and a 38 million CFA franc payment, is likely to generate further questions about what remains undisclosed.
For now, however, those allegations remain claims made publicly by Ndiaye and have not been independently verified.
The latest episode underscores why the Sweet Beauty affair continues to refuse to die: even after a judicial verdict, political upheaval, and years of public controversy, key figures in the case are still making new allegations, revisiting old grievances, and calling for answers that they say have never been fully provided.
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