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Senegal swears in Africa’s youngest elected leader as president in a dramatic prison-to-palace rise

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Published 5:25 AM

By BABACAR DIONE and JESSICA DONATI
Associated Press

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Senegal has inaugurated Africa’s youngest elected leader as president, as the 44-year-old and previously little-known Bassirou Diomaye Faye completed a dramatic ascent from prison to palace within weeks. Hours after Faye’s inauguration, Senegal’s popular opposition figure Ousmane Sonko was named as the country’s new prime minister. Last month’s election tested Senegal’s reputation as a stable democracy in West Africa, a region rocked in recent years by coups and attempted coups. Both Faye and Sonko were released from prison less than two weeks before the vote following a political amnesty announced by outgoing President Macky Sall.

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