Amanze Chinonye
Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina has dismissed the country’s Minister of Energy and Hydrocarbons, Olivier Jean-Baptiste, following days of youth-led demonstrations over crippling power and water shortages that have plunged much of the island nation into darkness for more than 12 hours a day.
The sacking, announced late Friday, came after several nights of violent unrest in the capital, Antananarivo, and other cities. The protesters, who defied an earlier police ban on the demonstration, marched through the streets chanting, “We need water, we need electricity,” as frustration boiled over. Some set fires, vandalised public property, and attacked cable-car stations and shops.
Security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse crowds, while authorities imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew to curb the violence.
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President Rajoelina described the unrest as “attempts at destabilisation” but acknowledged the public’s anger. “Madagascar cannot continue to suffer such failures in basic services,” he said in a televised address.
The government has not named a replacement for Jean-Baptiste, whose ministry oversees the state electricity and water utility, Jirama. Local media say the move is aimed at calming tensions as the administration faces mounting criticism over its handling of the energy crisis, which has disrupted businesses, schools and hospitals across the country.
Despite the minister’s removal, protesters have vowed to continue demonstrations until reliable power and water supplies are restored, underscoring the scale of public anger in the Indian Ocean nation of 30 million.
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