Its £17m price tag was branded an insult to the poor. Now Senegal's giant monument to the "African Renaissance" is in trouble again – for an offensive display of women's legs.
The 49-metre bronze group of man, woman and infant perched on a hill overlooking the capital Dakar, and due to be inaugurated in April, is bigger than New York's Statue of Liberty.
But the pet project of president Abdoulaye Wade has been mired in controversy and condemned by religious leaders. Christians objected when he compared it to Jesus Christ, while Muslims, who make up 94% of the population, said it was "idolatrous" for presenting the human form as an object of worship.
"Our problem is with the woman's bare legs," architect and Wade adviser Pierre Goudiaby Atepa said, referring to the thigh-length hemline of the female figure's tunic.
"Right from the start President Wade pointed out the bare legs and asked if we couldn't put it right. I've given him an estimate for doing that and it's up to him to decide."
An official in Wade's office said any decision on whether to remodel the statue, likely to be a costly procedure, had not yet been taken.
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