The march initiated by the coalition Benno Siggil Senegaal against the monument of the African Renaissance is prohibited, the statement, as published by Seneweb, stated.

The authorities cited reasons of security linked to the risk of disturbance to public order.
The opposition had intended to interrupt the monument’s unveiling by beaten on the pavement nearby as President Wade addresses what is expected to be more than two dozen heads of state from around the world.

Already, Dakar is playing host to an array of celebrities from all over the world, among them civil rights activist, Jesse Jackson and Akon, who is in his native country with a delegation of other celebrities to grace the occasion.

But last Thursday the coalition members vowed to go ahead with or without permission. They consider their demonstration as a protest against the ‘‘failures’’ of the Wade regime, part of which they say is the ‘‘horrible statue.’’

The $27m statute of the African Renaissance, bigger than the famous Statue of Liberty in the US, the brainchild of President Abdoulie Wade, has been at the center of controversy ever since, with opponents of the president condemning it for its ‘wasteful’ economic implications and symbolism.

Religious leaders have proven to be the most bitter about the statute, pointing especially to its negative religious and moral connotations.

Standing at 49m (160ft), the Monument of African Renaissance appears to offend the Islamic leaders mainly for the near nakedness of the female member of the family of three, imposing on a rather poverty stricken suburb of Dakar, representing a contradiction in itself given the enormous cost involved.

Wade has in the past equated the North Korean built statute to his legacy, resisting all the way every bit of attack from his opponents. At the end of last year, a group of Imams issued a fatwa (religious edict), denouncing the statute as unIslamic.

President Wade angered his opponent further when he suggested 35% of the revenue generated by the statute should be his as it was his idea. He proposed that such a fund would go to a foundation to be headed by his daughter.

At one point, the president’s outburst in response to seemingly unending condemnation caused him to provoke a demonstration by Christian youths who found a statement by the Senegalese leader, comparing the statute to Jesus Christ, insulting.
‘Monument of shame’

On Friday, outspoken Imam and well-known opponent of the statute, Massamba Diop, reportedly called it a ‘Monument of shame.’

Imam Diop was quoted by Reuters as telling a congregation of Friday prayer that "We have issued a fatwa urging Senegal’s imams this Friday to read the holy Koran in the mosques simply to ask Allah to preserve us from the punishment this monument of shame risks bringing on Senegal.