The government of Mauritius on Thursday launched impeachment procedures to dismiss the country’s first female President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim.
The decision was arrived at during a Cabinet meeting chaired by the Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth. Government members agreed that President Ameenah will have to step down after being implicated in an expenses scandal, African news reports.
It is reported that Fakim spent several hundred thousand rupees on personal purchases using a platinum credit, allegations she denied but later claimed to have reimbursed all the money she spent.
In an interview with Radio Plus, President Fakim said that she will not resign.
“I will not resign. Let them institute their Tribunal. I will see later if I am guilty. Since 2017, I have already refunded all the money.”
A motion on the same is likely to be tabled in parliament after the country’s Independence celebrations on March 12.
Ameenah Gurib-Fakim has been the country’s president since 2015.
