Senegal’s fifth president, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, has been sworn into office at a ceremony in the capital, Dakar.
44-year-old Faye becomes the country’s youngest president. He won delayed elections last month beating his main challenger Amadou Ba from the ruling party coalition.
Faye secured 54% of the vote and his election was confirmed on Friday by the country’s Constitutional Council.
Heads of state from Africa including Bola Tinubu, the president of Nigeria and chair of the regional bloc, Ecowas, attended the inauguration ceremony.
Taking the oath of office, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye declared that “Before God and before the Senegalese nation, I swear to faithfully fulfil the office of President of the Republic of the Republic of Senegal.”
He also declared “to observe as well as to conscientiously abide by the provisions of the Constitution and the laws, to devote all my power to defending the constitutional institutions, the integrity of the territory, national independence and to spare no effort to achieve African unity.”
This is Senegal’s fourth democratic transfer of power since gaining independence more than six decades ago.
In his first speech as president-elect, Faye promised to fight corruption and reform the economy.
“I pledge to govern with humility and transparency, and to fight corruption at all levels. I pledge to devote myself fully to rebuilding our institutions,” he said during his March 25 speech, restating promises made during his campaign.
Mr Faye only got released from prison ahead of the vote. He had been in prison 10 days before the vote and campaigned on the promise of radical change.
He ran as an independent candidate but had support from Ousmane Sonko, the popular figure who many thought would succeed Mr Sall.
Source: Africafeeds.com
