Feed: Sport Yahoo UK
Posted on: Friday, May 03, 2013 22:01
Author: Sport Yahoo UK
Subject: Senegal clairvoyant finds fame as advises wrestlers, politicians
Hidden in a warren of dirt roads choked with street hawkers and rust-covered spluttering Peugeots lives Selbe Ndom, a 43-year-old clairvoyant who has become one of Senegal's biggest household names. While many youths in the sprawling neighbourhood dream of winning fame and fortune in the big-money wrestling bouts fought in Dakar's sandy rings, the dread-locked divorcee has made her Name predicting their outcomes. "Everybody knows her," said Binta Sene, a fuel station attendant. "She's on TV and the radio all the time." Though Ndom claims never to have stepped foot in one, she has been dubbed "Queen of the Ring", reflecting the popularity of the sport in the West African nation, where wrestlers, not footballers, adorn advertising campaigns. Although she rose to fame predicting the outcomes of bouts of wrestling, known as Laamb, Ndom claims her powers are not limited to the ring. "Politicians come here ... I tell them what sacrifices to make if they want to win their election," said Ndom, better known as Madame Selbe. "During the King's Cup, I said that Barca was going to win!" she said, referring to Barcelona's 2012 victory in Spain's biggest annual football tournament. Local media have reported sightings of the clairvoyant entering government buildings. Speculation as to who seeks her services fills newspaper columns and stokes dinner table chatter. While she says she has not advised Senegal's President Macky Sall since he came to power 13 months ago, Ndom says she met Sall three years ago before he launched his successful bid to defeat incumbent Abdoulaye Wade in a tense vote last year. "I told him, 'You're going to be the fourth president,'" she said, beaming with pride. "TWO COWS FOR THE LIONS" Ndom says she consults a combination of her dreams, a collection of cowry shells and the Koran before she can be sure of her client's fortunes and, if needs be, how to improve them. She keeps these tools all within arms reach as she stretches her legs out on the carpeted floor of a dimly lit living room where she receives some 30 clients a day. Sacrifices, when they are needed, range from a chicken for the less complex cases to a sheep or a cow if the needs are greater. Sometimes, when her country's interests are at stake, Ndom says she will carry out sacrifices for free. "I bought two cows for the Lions," she said, referring to Senegal's national football team. "They needed four cows, but I could only afford two. Because I was only able to sacrifice two cows, they tied." Ndom claims to have only got the result of one wrestling match wrong from a total of 50 bouts. This stellar record has spawned a steady business with locals paying 15 euros and those abroad pay 100 euros for their fortunes to be told over the phone, she says. A flat screen TV, a laptop and a new smart phone are among the more conspicuous signs of her success. But she says she likes living in Yeumbeul because the community supports her. Prophesying, however, is not without occupational hazards. "People call and harass me," she said, recounting a recent close shave when police had to escort her from a mob of wrestling fans angry about her erroneous prediction. "People don't understand that it's God who tells me these things," she said. |
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