Mame Madior Boye

Mame Madior Boye (born 1940[1]) was Prime Minister of Senegal from 2001 to 2002. She was the first female holder of that position.

Mame Madior Boye
Prime Minister of Senegal
In office 3 March 2001 – 4 November 2002
President	Abdoulaye Wade
Preceded by	Moustapha Niasse
Succeeded by	Idrissa Seck
Personal details
Born	1940 (age 80–81) Saint-Louis, French West Africa (now Senegal)
Political party	Democratic Party
Alma mater	University of Dakar French National School for the Judiciary

Background and career

Boye was born to a family of lawyers in Saint-Louis, and like her three brothers she was educated as a lawyer in Dakar and Paris. Her father was a clerk, then a bailiff. She graduated from Faidherbe High School in her hometown. In 1963, she enrolled at the Faculty of Legal and Economic Sciences at the University of Dakar and then continued her training at the National Center for Judicial Studies (CNEJ) in Paris until 1969.[2]

She spent most of her career in the Senegalese administration of justice. She was successively Deputy Public Prosecutor, judge and first vice President of the Regional First Class Court of Dakar and chamber President of the Court of Appeal. She was a founder and the first woman president of the Association of Senegalese Lawyers from 1975 to 1990,[1] then became the Director of Engagements for the West African Banking Company (Compagnie bancaire de l'Afrique Occidentale, CBAO) from September 1990 to April 2000.[3] Boye was also vice president of the International Federation of Women Lawyers from 1978 to 1998. She was respected as a serious professional, intelligent and honest. She was a militant feminist, Muslim and divorced with two children. Her relations with the regime of President Abdou Diouf were strained and she did not accept high positions in the judicial system to preserve her integrity and independence.[4]

Prime Minister

Following the victory of Abdoulaye Wade in the 2000 presidential election, Boye became Minister of Justice in April 2000.[3][5] But tensions arose between the President and the Prime Minister, who was from another political party. Moustapha Niasse resigned and Boye was appointed by Wade as Prime Minister on 3 March 2001, two months before the legislative elections. Wade lacked a majority in the legislature and more than 30 non-partisan women's organizations organized a campaign before the elections demanding more women in the legislature. Boye was not only a woman, she was also non-partisan, which looked good.[6] She remained as Minister of Justice in the new government.[7] The elections gave Wade a large majority - 89 of 120 seats. The representation of women increased, but not to more than 19 per cent. Following the April 2001 legislative elections, Boye was reappointed as Prime Minister on 10 May 2001; she was, however, replaced as Minister of Justice in the government appointed on 12 May.[8][9]

In Boye's second government there were five women of 25 ministers, against two previously. This was a nice victory for Boye. But the government faced considerable economic and social challenges. Efforts were made to strengthen education and health, improve salaries, reduce unemployment among the young and support the agriculture sector. But the ministers were new and inexperienced and views in the coalition differed. As Prime Minister Boye was subordinate to the President, and Wade was a hand-on, dynamic leader with clear authoritarian tendencies[10] Boye and her government were dismissed by the President on 4 November 2002, reportedly due to her reaction to the MV Joola sea disaster in September 2002.[11] It was one of the worst shipping disasters of all times. More than 1 800 people died when the state-owned ferry sank. Boye stated that the accident was due to the weather, thus excluding failures of ship and crew. But soon there were allegations of high-level errors. The head of the navy was dismissed and two ministers had to resign.[12]

Afterwards

Later, in September 2004, Boye was appointed by Alpha Oumar Konaré as the African Union's Special Representative for the promotion of the protection of civilians in armed conflicts.[13]

On 12 September 2008, a judge in France issued an arrest warrant for Boye, along with eight others, in connection with the Joola disaster.[14] The Senegalese government rejected this and, in response, decided to prosecute the judge who issued the warrants.[15] The Paris Court of Appeal annulled the arrest warrant for Boye in mid-June 2009.[16]

References

1. "Mame Madior Boye", Jeune Afrique, August 13, 2007 (in French).
2. "Mame Madior Boye : La première femme Premier ministre du Sénégal" (in French). Senxibar.com. 5 September 2011.
3. "Who's Who", Senegal: Les Hommes de Pouvoir, number 5, Africa Intelligence, 17 July 2001 (in French).
4. Skard, Torild (2014) "Mame Madior Boye" in Women of power - half a century of female presidents and prime ministers worldwide, Bristol: Policy Press, ISBN 978-1-44731-578-0
5. "New Senegalese government in place", AFP, April 4, 2000.
6. Diadie Ba, "Senegal's first woman premier appointed", Reuters, March 4, 2001.
7. "Senegal cabinet reshuffle removes Niasse supporters", BBC News, March 5, 2001.
8. "Le deuxième gouvernement de Mme Mame Madior Boye" Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine, UPF, 14 May 2001 (in French).
9. Skard (2014)
10. Skard (2014), pp. 294-7
11. "Report blames army for delay in Joola rescue", IRIN, November 6, 2002.
12. Skard (2014), p. 296
13. African Union Press Release No. 086/2004 Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine, September 7, 2004.
14. "French judge issues warrants over Senegal ferry disaster: lawyer" Archived 2008-09-15 at the Wayback Machine, AFP, 12 September 2008.
15. "Senegal to prosecute French judge over ferry disaster" Archived 2011-05-20 at the Wayback Machine, AFP, 19 September 2008.
16. Malick Ciss, "Dossier du naufrage du bateau « Le Joola » - les mandats d'arrêt internationaux contre mame madior boye et cie annulés", Le Soleil, 17 June 2009 (in French).