prime minister - The African Mirror

Apr

2024

Senegal’s new prime minister is political firebrand Ousmane Sonko

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 SARAH MORLAND

Haiti’s prime minister Ariel Henry resigned. Who will replace him?

WORLD

HAITI'S embattled Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced his resignation, effective once a transition council and temporary replacement have been appointed. HOW DID HENRY RESIGN? A U.S. official said the decision for Henry's resignation was made on Friday, though he did not officially tender it to his cabinet until Monday evening and later issued an official video address. Henry had traveled to Kenya in late February to secure support for an international security mission to fight Haiti's powerful armed gangs, but violence in the capital escalated during his absence and left him stranded in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. Widespread protests have…

Mar

2024

By The African Mirror

About 20 migrants die in shipwreck off Senegal’s coast

NEWS

ABOUT 20 migrants died this week when their boat capsized off the coast of northern Senegal, Prime Minister Amadou Ba said. The migrant support service Alarm Phone said on X that the boat had been carrying around 300 people before it capsized on Wednesday near the city of Saint-Louis and that some made it to shore while others were still missing. Thousands of people leave the coast of West Africa every year on a perilous journey to try to reach Europe, and the full number of deaths at sea is unknown. Senegal mourned several deadly incidents last year, including one…

Jan

2024

By KEVIN BUCKLAND

Japan prosecutors make first arrest in political funding scandal

WORLD

A lawmaker from Japan's ruling party was arrested for suspected fundraising violations, the first arrest in a scandal that has battered support for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Yoshitaka Ikeda, 57, a lower house lawmaker and former vice minister for education, was arrested by Tokyo prosecutors, Kishida told reporters, adding that Ikeda would be expelled from the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). "This is very regrettable. I take it very seriously," Kishida said in broadcast remarks. "As a party, we must work to restore trust in politics with a strong sense of urgency." Ikeda allegedly received a kickback of some 48 million…

Nov

2023

By MICHAEL HOLDEN and SAM TOBIN

UK’s Sunak suffers major blow as Rwanda migrant scheme declared unlawful

NEWS

BRITAIN'S Supreme Court ruled that the government's scheme to send asylum seekers to Rwanda was unlawful, dealing a crushing blow to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak before an election expected next year. With his flagship immigration policy in tatters, Sunak said he was working on a new treaty with Rwanda, and said if this did not solve the issue, he would pass new laws and revisit any international treaties which frustrated his plans. Under the scheme, Britain intended to send tens of thousands of asylum seekers who arrived on its shores without permission to the East African country in a bid to deter migrants…

Sep

2023

By WA LONE and STEVE SCHERER

Canadian Sikhs stage protests against Indian government over murder

WORLD

CANADIAN Sikhs staged small protests outside India's diplomatic missions, a week after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there may be a link between New Delhi and the murder of a Sikh separatist advocate in British Columbia. Trudeau a week ago stood in parliament to say that domestic intelligence agencies were actively pursuing credible allegations tying New Delhi's agents to the shooting of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, in June. About 100 protesters in Toronto burned an Indian flag and struck a cardboard cut-out of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a shoe. About 200 protesters also gathered outside the Vancouver consulate.…

Sep

2023

By TAREK AMARA

Tunisia detains cartoonist over drawings mocking prime minister

NEWS

TUNISIA'S public prosecutor detained the cartoonist Tawfiq Omrane over drawings mocking the prime minister, Omrane's lawyer said, fuelling concern among free speech advocates. Omrane is well known for publishing satirical cartoons featuring President Kais Saied, who seized almost all powers two years ago after he shut down Tunisia's elected parliament in a move that the opposition described as a coup. "The police interrogated him (Omrane) for hours without the presence of lawyers on suspicion of insulting through social networks ... over cartoons mocking the prime minister," his lawyer, Anas Kadoussi, told Reuters. Kadoussi said the cartoonist could face one year…

Jul

2020

By The African Mirror

Gabon appoints first woman prime minister amid government shakeup

NEWS

GABON President Ali Bongo has promoted his defence minister, Rose Christiane Ossouka Raponda, to prime minister, the first time a woman has held the role in the country. Ossouka Raponda, 56, is the sixth prime minister appointed since Bongo succeeded his father in 2009. Her first job is to form a new government after her predecessor, Julien Nkoghe Bekale, stepped down earlier in the day. She will take on two major challenges: declining oil production and prices, which have weighed on growth in recent years, and the COVID-19 pandemic. The Central African country has registered nearly 6,000 cases to date.…