Soham El Wardini

Soham El Wardini (born in 1953) is a Senegalese politician and former mayor of Dakar, Senegal. She is the first woman to be mayor of post-independence Dakar and the first deputy mayor of the city.

Soham El Wardini
El Wardini at the Closing Ceremony of the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics
Mayor of Dakar (2009–2022)
In office
September 29, 2018 – January 23, 2022
PresidentMacky Sall
Preceded byKhalifa Sall
Succeeded byBarthélemy Dias
Deputy Mayor of Dakar
In office
2014 – August 31, 2018
PresidentMacky Sall
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byN/A
Personal details
Born1953 (age 69–70)[1]
Latmingué, Kaolack Region
NationalitySenegalese
Alma materCheikh Anta Diop University

Biography

Wardini was born in 1953 in the rural community of Latmingué, Kaolack Region, Senegal.[1][2] She and her 10 siblings were born to a Senegalese mother and Lebanese father.[3] Following her father's death, her family moved to the city of Kaolack, where she attended high school. She majored in English at Cheikh Anta Diop University (then University of Dakar) and taught at various colleges.[4]

Wardini won the title of Miss Senegal and Miss Senegambia in 1970.[4][5]

Career

In 1999, Wardini joined the Alliance of the Forces of Progress. Following the split of the AFP in 2012, she joined mayor of Dakar, Khalifa Sall's faction[6] and became his deputy in 2014 – the first and only deputy mayor in the city's history.[7] In March 2017, Khalifa Sall was sentenced to five-years for the embezzlement of F.CFA 1,800,000,000 in public funds.[8] Wardini was placed as acting mayor until August 2017, when president Macky Sall dismissed Khalifa Sall in a presidential decree.[9]

In September 2018, Wardini ran for mayor of Dakar and was elected with a majority vote in city council with 64 votes.[10] She won over candidates Banda Diop with 13 votes and Moussa Sy with 11 votes.[11] Wardini became the first woman to be mayor of Dakar, post-independence.[12]

On October 8, 2018, the 133rd IOC Session voted unanimously for Dakar to host the 2022 Summer Youth Olympics,[13] the first Olympic games to be hosted in Africa.[14] During the closing ceremony of the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics, Buenos Aires mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta and IOC president Thomas Bach handed the Olympic flag to Wardini.[15]

Soham El Wardini will not be able to run for the next local election.[16]

References
  1. Abdur Rahman Alfa Shaban (10 March 2018). "Senegal capital gets historic female mayor: Soham El Wardini". Africanews. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
  2. Kiunguyu, Kylie (4 October 2018). "Soham El Wardini is Dakar's first post-independence female mayor". This Is Africa. Dakar. Archived from the original on 18 February 2019. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  3. El Hadji Ibrahima Thiam (9 January 2015). "Une Dame De Cœur". Seneplus (in French). Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  4. Seck, Momar Diack (4 October 2018). "Entrée historique de Soham Wardin à la Mairie de Dakar : Entretien avec Fouad Wardini, son frère, pour le Portrait d'une Sénégalaise, bon teint". Lactuacho (in French). Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  5. "Portrait : la Maire de Dakar Soham El Wardini a été 'Miss Sénégal' 1970". Tract (in French). 3 October 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  6. Maillard, Matteo (2 October 2018). "Qui est Soham El Wardini, première femme maire de Dakar ?". Kassataya (in French). Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  7. Ba, Mehdi (12 July 2018). "Sénégal : Soham El Wardini, désormais officiellement à la tête de la mairie de Dakar". Jeune Afrique (in French). Dakar. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  8. "Opposition leaders Khalifa Sall and Karim Wade barred from Senegal's presidential race". France 24. 14 January 2019. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  9. Liffran, Olivier (31 August 2018). "Sénégal : Khalifa Sall révoqué par Macky Sall de son mandat de maire de Dakar". Jeune Afrique (in French). Dakar. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  10. Sané, Youssouf (29 September 2018). "Mairie de Dakar : Soham El Wardini remplace Khalifa Sall". Seneweb (in French). Dakar. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  11. Waweru, Nduta (5 October 2018). "Meet Soham El Wardini, the first female mayor of Senegal's capital since 1960". Face2Face Africa. Dakar. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  12. PH (3 October 2018). "Soham El Wardini Becomes the First Female Mayor of Dakar, Senegal". How Africa News. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  13. "Le Sénégal organisera les Jeux olympiques de la jeunesse en 2022". Le Monde (in French). Dakar. 9 October 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  14. Gueye, Fatou (19 October 2018). "JOJ 2022: Le maire Soham Wadini a reçu le drapeau Olympique". SeneNews (in French). Buenos Aires. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  15. "Ciudad de Buenos Aires: Juegos Olímpicos de la Juventud: La Fiesta de despedida". Política 3D (in European Spanish). Buenos Aires. 19 October 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  16. Ba, Mehdi (27 October 2021). "Sénégal : la maire de Dakar, Soham El Wardini, empêchée de se présenter". Jeune Afrique (in French). Dakar. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
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