Senegal's New President Pledges Reform

Left-wing pan-Africanist Bassirou Diomaye Faye became Senegal's youngest president, pledging systemic change, greater sovereignty and calm after years of deadly turmoil.

The 44-year-old, who has never before held an elected office, swept to a first-round victory on a promise of radical reform just 10 days after being released from prison.

Faye took the presidential oath in front of hundreds of officials and several African heads of state at an exhibition center in the new town of Diamniadio, near Dakar.

He then returned to the capital, with his motorcade greeted by hundreds of jubilant residents who lined the roads leading to the presidential palace.

His predecessor, Macky Sall, symbolically handed Faye the key to the presidential headquarters before leaving the palace.

"Before God and the Senegalese nation, I swear to faithfully fulfill the office of President of the Republic of Senegal," Faye had said earlier in the day.

The former tax inspector becomes Senegal's fifth president since independence from France in 1960 and the first to openly admit to a polygamous marriage.

"I am aware that the results of the ballot box express a profound desire for systemic change," Faye said in a brief speech after taking the presidential oath.

"Under my leadership, Senegal will be a country of hope, a peaceful country with an independent judiciary and a strengthened democracy," he added.

Faye was among a group of political opponents freed from prison 10 days before the March 24 presidential ballot under an amnesty announced by  former president Macky Sall, who had tried to delay the vote.

Working with his populist mentor Ousmane Sonko, who was barred from the election, Faye had set out his priorities of national reconciliation, easing a cost-of-living crisis and fighting corruption.