Africa’s Only Female President, Gurib-Fakim of Mauritius Resigns amid Credit Card Scandal
Africa’s only remaining female president Ameenah Gurib-Fakim of Mauritius has resigned, over a credit card scandal, according to her lawyer. Her resignation, which has been speculated, came after the island’s 50th independence anniversary.
The move came after the Prime Minister Pravind Jug- nauth accused Gurib-Fakim of back-pedalling on a promise to quit amid allegations of misconduct, and threatening unspecified actions if she did not step down.
The dispute between the two leaders has ratcheted up uncertainty on the Indian Ocean island, which has been politically and economically stable since it gained independence from Britain in 1968, according to reports. The World Bank ranks the country as the easiest place to do business in Africa.
Gurib-Fakim, the country’s first female head of state, on Wednesday denied having any plans to resign and said she was prepared to go to court over allegations she spent money from a charity on a shopping trip. That was just days after Jugnauth said Gurib-Fakim told him during a meeting at State House she planned to step down.
“I am shocked – shocked is not a strong enough word,” Jugnauth told reporters on Thursday in the capital, Port Louis, in a briefing broadcast by Radio Plus. “It’s an attitude which is damaging to the office of the presidency. It’s a behaviour which does not honour our republic.”
“The president of the republic told me that she would resign from office and we agreed on the date of her departure,” Jugnauth told reporters without giving the chosen date. The interest of the country comes first, and I am proud of Mauritius’s image as a model of living democracy in the world.” He added it would take place before parliament returned at the end of the month.
Gurib-Fakim, according to reports, said she “inadvertently” used a payment card issued to her by the Planet Earth Institute in 2016 that was identical to a bank card she already had. After telling the London-based charity she’d used their card for about US$27,000 of “out-ofpocket expenses”, she immediately reimbursed the institute in addition to other expenses incurred on a PEI trip.
“The clash makes a big dent to the reputation of our country as a business friendly and well-managed economy,” said a former governor of the Bank of Mauritius and now an independent political analyst, Dan Maraye.