Former President - The African Mirror

Apr

2024

Trump faces criminal trial, a historic first for a former president

DONALD Trump became the first former U.S. president to stand criminal trial when he appeared in a Manhattan court to face charges stemming from a hush-money payment to a porn star that could complicate his bid to win back the White House. Wearing his signature blue suit and red tie, Trump, 77, sat expressionless at the defence table with his attorneys while photographers snapped his picture. Justice Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the trial, entered about half an hour later. Trump is required to attend the trial, which is expected to last through May. The selection of 12 jurors and six…

Apr

2024

By BATE FELIX and PORTIA CROWE

Senegal’s new prime minister is political firebrand Ousmane Sonko

NEWS

SENEGAL'S new prime minister Ousmane Sonko is a firebrand politician who rallied Senegalese youth to enable the election of his top lieutenant Bassirou Diomaye Faye as president, and who now, as expected, has secured a top role in return. A fierce opponent of former president Macky Sall, Sonko, 49, was barred from standing in the March 24 presidential election because of a conviction for defamation. He denied any wrongdoing, but chose the little-known Faye as his replacement, urging his supporters to back him instead. Sonko and Faye, both former tax inspectors, have positioned themselves as opponents of corruption and elitism…

Apr

2024

By The African Mirror

Senegal President Faye appoints ally Sonko as prime minister

NEWS

NEW Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye appointed firebrand politician and key backer Ousmane Sonko as prime minister in his first act as president. Sonko, an opponent of former President Macky Sall, is popular among the West African nation's youth but was barred from the March 24 presidential election due to a defamation conviction. He denied any wrongdoing. Campaigning jointly under the slogan "Diomaye is Sonko," Sonko urged supporters to vote for his top lieutenant, Faye, who ultimately won with over 54% of the vote in the first round. Faye was inaugurated on Tuesday. Speaking after his appointment, Sonko said he would present…

Mar

2024

By DOUGLAS YATES

Senegal: Macky Sall’s reputation is dented, but the former president did a lot at home and abroad

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

MACKY Sall’s legacy as Senegal’s president since 2012 became more complex in his last year in office. The year was so filled with transgressions that they appeared to have tarnished his reputation indelibly. For some months he gave the impression to his adversaries and critics that he had third-term ambitions – not uncommon in contemporary west African politics. A public outcry followed his decision on 3 February 2024 to postpone the polls that had originally been scheduled for three weeks later. Then his deputies in the national assembly voted unanimously to postpone the elections and prolong Sall’s term in office…

Feb

2024

By MAXWELL AKALAARE ADOMBILA

Presidential candidate of Ghana’s ruling party outlines main policies

NEWS

GHANA'S Vice President Mahamadu Bawumia said he was ready to lead the nation in a campaign launch speech, pledging to revive the battered economy, fight graft, and boost the private sector if elected president in December. The 60-year-old economist was overwhelmingly voted presidential candidate of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) in November, teeing up a contest with former President John Mahama. The former central banker said he was ready to be "in the driver's seat" in a speech to crowds of supporters at the University of Professional Studies in Accra. "I want to build a Ghana where we leverage…

Jan

2024

By The African Mirror

Sierra Leone charges ex-president’s guard, 11 others over failed coup

NEWS

SIERRA Leone authorities have charged 12 people with treason in connection with a failed coup in November, including a member of former President Ernest Bai Koroma's security detail, the government said. Gunmen attacked a military barracks, a prison and other locations in Sierra Leone on November 26, freeing about 2,200 inmates and killing more than 20 people in what the authorities said afterwards was an attempt to overthrow the government. The accused were arraigned before a magistrate in the capital Freetown on Tuesday, the information ministry said in a statement, adding that they included ex-police and correctional officers and former Koroma…

Dec

2023

By The African Mirror

Mauritania’s former president jailed for five years for corruption

NEWS

MAURITANIA'S former president, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, has been sentenced to five years in prison for money laundering and "illicit enrichment". Abdel Aziz led the West African country for a decade after coming to power in a 2008 coup and was an ally of Western powers fighting Islamist militants in the Sahel region. He had been on trial since January and denied corruption allegations. The court found Abdel Aziz guilty of two of 10 charges late on Monday, following an inquiry into allegations of embezzlement of public property and corruption. One of his lawyers called the ruling "a political verdict…

May

2023

By The African Mirror

Bolsonaro home raided, phone seized in Brazil vaccine records probe

WORLD

LISANDRA PARAGUASSU and RICARDO BRITO BRAZILIAN police raided former President Jair Bolsonaro's home and seized his cell phone as part of an investigation into his COVID-19 vaccination records. The investigation may answer questions about how Bolsonaro, a strident coronavirus sceptic who vowed never to get a COVID vaccine, was registered as vaccinated in health records made public in February. Bolsonaro confirmed the raid on his home in Brasilia to journalists and reiterated that he had never taken a COVID vaccine. He denied any role in allegedly forging documents. "For my part, there was nothing falsified. I didn't take the vaccine. Period," he…

Apr

2023

By The African Mirror

Americans divided over criminal charges against Trump

WORLD

RICHARD COWAN THE prosecution of former President Donald Trump has evenly divided Americans but appears to have boosted his chances of winning the Republican nomination for the 2024 election, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Thursday. The poll was conducted on Wednesday and Thursday, following Tuesday's indictment of Trump on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records by prosecutors in New York City. The survey found that 49% of all Americans think it was right for prosecutors to pursue the first criminal case against a U.S. president or former president. But the finding underscores the political divide on so…

Jan

2023

By The African Mirror

Brazil riot police deploy at Bolsonaro backers’ camp after capital stormed

WORLD

ANTHONY BOADLE and SERGIO QUEIROZ BRAZILIAN police deployed at a camp of supporters of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro in the capital on Monday, a day after rioters launched the worst attack on Brazil's state institutions since its return to democracy in the 1980s. Hundreds of police in riot gear and some on horseback amassed at the encampment near Brasilia's army headquarters, while soldiers in the area withdrew, Reuters witnesses said, after Sunday's storming by thousands of Bolsonaro's backers of Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Bolsonaro's leftist rival who took office on Jan.…