Mauritius President to resign over financial scandal claims, says its PM

Mauritian President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim is to resign after
becoming embroiled in a financial scandal, Prime Minister Pravind
Jugnauth announced on Friday (March 9). 

Mrs Gurib-Fakim, who is the only female head of state in Africa,
has been accused of using a bank card provided by a
non-governmental organisation to make personal purchases and will
step down after ceremonies to mark the 50th anniversary of
independence on March 12.

“The President of the Republic told me that she would resign
from office and we agreed on the date of her departure,” Mr
Jugnauth told reporters in Port Louis, capital of the Indian Ocean
archipelago nation without revealing the chosen date.“The interests
of the country come first.”

When Mrs Gurib-Fakim, 58, took the honorary position of
president in 2015, she became the first woman to do so in Mauritian
history.

A scientist and biologist of international renown, she had been
under pressure since the Mauritian daily L’Express published bank
documents showing that Mrs Gurib-Fakim had used a credit card given
to her by the London-based Planet Earth Institute to make thousands
of dollars’ worth of personal purchases.

The NGO is funded by the controversial Angolan billionaire
Alvaro Sobrinho, who is himself being investigated for fraud.

Mauritian President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim is to resign after
becoming embroiled in a financial scandal, Prime Minister Pravind
Jugnauth announced on Friday (March 9). 

Mrs Gurib-Fakim, who is the only female head of state in Africa,
has been accused of using a bank card provided by a
non-governmental organisation to make personal purchases and will
step down after ceremonies to mark the 50th anniversary of
independence on March 12.

“The President of the Republic told me that she would resign
from office and we agreed on the date of her departure,” Mr
Jugnauth told reporters in Port Louis, capital of the Indian Ocean
archipelago nation without revealing the chosen date.“The interests
of the country come first.”

When Mrs Gurib-Fakim, 58, took the honorary position of
president in 2015, she became the first woman to do so in Mauritian
history.

A scientist and biologist of international renown, she had been
under pressure since the Mauritian daily L’Express published bank
documents showing that Mrs Gurib-Fakim had used a credit card given
to her by the London-based Planet Earth Institute to make thousands
of dollars’ worth of personal purchases.

The NGO is funded by the controversial Angolan billionaire
Alvaro Sobrinho, who is himself being investigated for fraud.