Mohamed Ould Ghazouani
محمد ولد الغزواني
Ghazouani in 2022
9th President of Mauritania
Assumed office
1 August 2019
Prime MinisterMohamed Salem Ould Béchir
Ismail Ould Bedde Ould Cheikh Sidiya
Mohamed Ould Bilal
Preceded byMohamed Ould Abdel Aziz
Minister of Defence
In office
October 2018 – 15 March 2019
PresidentMohamed Ould Abdel Aziz
Prime MinisterMohamed Salem Ould Béchir
Preceded byJallow Mamadou Bhatia
Succeeded byYahya Ould Hademine
Chief of Army Staff
In office
2008–2018
PresidentMohamed Ould Abdel Aziz
Preceded byMohamed Ould Abdel Aziz
Succeeded byMohamed Cheikh Ould Mohamed Lemine
Personal details
Born (1956-12-04) December 4, 1956[1]
Boumdeid, Assaba Region, Colonial Mauritania
Political partyEquity Party (since 2022)
Other political
affiliations		Union for the Republic (until 2022)
SpouseMariam Mint Mohamed Vadel Ould Dah
Children5
EducationReceived a baccalaureate and a master’s degree in Administration and Military Sciences
Military service
Allegiance Mauritania
Branch/serviceMauritanian Army
Years of service1970s–2018
Rank General
CommandsGeneral Director of National Security
Chief of National Army Staff

Mohamed Ould Cheikh Mohamed Ahmed Ould Ghazouani (Arabic: محمد ولد الشيخ محمد أحمد ولد الغزواني; born 4 December 1956), also known as Ghazouani[2] and Ould Ghazouani,[3] is a Mauritanian politician and retired Mauritanian Army general who is the 9th President of Mauritania,[4] having assumed office on 1 August 2019.[5]

He is a former General Director of National Security[1] and former Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Mauritania (2008–2018).[6] He was Defence Minister for Mauritania from October 2018 to March 2019.[7][8] At that time a close ally of his predecessor Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, Ghazouani was elected as President of Mauritania on 22 June 2019 following the presidential election.[5] Mohamed Ould Ghazouani's victory in the 2019 Mauritanian presidential election was presented as having been the country's first peaceful transition of power since independence.[9]

Personal life

Ghazouani was born in Boumdeid, Assaba region on 4 December 1956.[10] He belongs to a well-known Sufi Berber family in Mauritania. Ghazouani is the son of a spiritual leader of the Maraboutic tribe Ideiboussat.[11] Ghazouani has memorised the Quran.[12] He is married to a doctor, Mariam Mint Mohamed Vadel Ould Dah.[11][13] They have five children, from whom Mohamed Lemine Ould Cheikh El-Ghazouani is the eldest son.[14]

Career

Military career

He joined the Mauritanian Army in the late 1970s. He continued his training as an officer in the Meknes Royal Military Academy in Morocco.[15][16][17] He received a baccalaureate degree, a master's degree in Administration and Military Sciences, and completed several war training certificates and courses.[14][18]

Ghazouani was aide-de-camp to President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya from 1987 to 1991.[19]

Ghazouani was an ally of former President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz,[20] and was his partner in the overthrow of President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi in 2008, and was a member of the military junta that ousted former President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya In 2005.[21][8]

Political career

In October 2018, President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz named him as defence minister of Mauritania.[8][22]

On 1 March 2019, Ghazouani announced his candidacy for the presidency, seeking to replace Abdel Aziz.[23][3][2] On 15 March he resigned as defence minister to pursue his presidential ambition.[24]

On 22 June 2019, he became Mauritania's elected president after a presidential election against five candidates in a race to the "gray palace".[14]

On 1 August 2019, he was sworn in as the 9th President of Mauritania.[25] Shortly after being sworn in, his relations with former president Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz soured, due to revelations of financial misconduct committed by the former president. A parliamentary probe was opened into his activies in August of 2020, and he was officially sentenced in 2023. Aziz claimed that Ghazouani had given the former president two bags filled with seven million euros after being elected.[26]

References

  1. 1 2 "السيرة الذاتية للفريق محمد ولد الغزواني - أقــــلام حرة". aqlame.com. Archived from the original on 2019-03-31. Retrieved 2019-06-23.
  2. 1 2 "غزواني يعلن ترشحه للانتخابات الرئاسية". March 1, 2019. Archived from the original on March 31, 2019. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  3. 1 2 "ولد الغزواني: للعهد عندي معناه، وأسعى لتحقيق طموح الشعب". الأخبار: أول وكالة أنباء موريتانية مستقلة. March 1, 2019. Archived from the original on November 2, 2019. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
  4. ↑ "Ghazouani sworn in as new Mauritanian president: CENI". www.aa.com.tr. Archived from the original on 2019-08-25. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
  5. 1 2 "Mauritania Constitutional Council Confirms Mohamed Ould Ghazouani as President". Voice of America. Archived from the original on 2019-07-01. Retrieved 2019-07-02.
  6. ↑ "Mohamed Ould Ghazouani Declares himself Winner of Mauritania Presidential Polls". Asharq AL-awsat. Archived from the original on 2019-06-24. Retrieved 2019-06-23.
  7. ↑ "صديق الرئيس وزيرا للدفاع.. ماذا يرتّب جنرالات موريتانيا قبيل الرئاسيات؟". www.aljazeera.net. Archived from the original on 2019-01-27. Retrieved 2021-08-25.
  8. 1 2 3 "Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, Mauritania's new president". www.aa.com.tr. Archived from the original on 2019-06-27. Retrieved 2019-06-25.
  9. ↑ "First peaceful transfer of power in Mauritania's presidential polls". RFI. 2019-06-22. Archived from the original on 2021-04-14. Retrieved 2021-08-23.
  10. ↑ سيدي, أحمد ولد. "من هو الرئيس الموريتاني الجديد؟". alaraby. Archived from the original on 2019-12-13. Retrieved 2021-08-25.
  11. 1 2 Spiegel, Justine (20 November 2012). "Mauritanie: Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, l'homme de l'ombre". Jeune Afrique. Archived from the original on 14 July 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  12. ↑ "رئيس موريتانيا الجديد.. حفظ القرآن مبكرا وهو أول "فريق" في الجيش". الأخبار. August 3, 2019. Archived from the original on August 4, 2019. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
  13. ↑ "في أول ظهور إعلامي لها زوجة وزير الدفاع ومرشح الرئاسيات ولد الغزواني تتحدث في مقابلة | الحقيقة". www.alhakika.info. Archived from the original on 2019-06-27. Retrieved 2019-06-27.
  14. 1 2 3 "محمد ولد الشيخ الغزواني.. من هو رئيس موريتانيا الجديد؟". سكاي نيوز عربية. Archived from the original on 2020-03-26. Retrieved 2021-08-25.
  15. ↑ "AMI - Mohamed Cheikh El Ghazwani". olden.ami.mr. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
  16. ↑ "Mauritanie : Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, l'homme de l'ombre – Jeune Afrique". JeuneAfrique.com (in French). 2012-11-20. Retrieved 2023-10-07.
  17. ↑ "Mauritanie. Ghazouani: qui est le nouveau président mauritanien?". Le 360 Afrique (in French). Retrieved 2023-10-07.
  18. ↑ Welle, Deutsche (23 June 2019). "Mauritania: Former General Mohamed Ould Ghazouani wins presidential election". DW.COM. Archived from the original on 24 June 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  19. ↑ "Biographie du president". presidence.mr.
  20. ↑ "Mauritania opposition challenges ruling party win". June 24, 2019. Archived from the original on October 15, 2019. Retrieved June 25, 2019 – via www.bbc.com.
  21. ↑ "ولد الغزواني، جنرال "يخلف" جنرالاً في حكم موريتانيا". June 24, 2019. Archived from the original on June 30, 2019. Retrieved June 25, 2019 – via www.bbc.com.
  22. ↑ "Mauritania appointments reflect jockeying for succession | Lamine Ghanmi". AW. Archived from the original on 2020-04-12. Retrieved 2019-06-27.
  23. ↑ "وزير الدفاع الموريتاني يخلع بزته العسكرية لخلافة رفيقه في القصر". www.aljazeera.net. Archived from the original on 2019-06-21. Retrieved 2021-08-25.
  24. ↑ "Mauritania's electoral commission confirms Ghazouani win | The Star". thestar.com. Archived from the original on 2019-07-04. Retrieved 2019-06-27.
  25. ↑ "New government formed in Mauritania". www.aa.com.tr. Archived from the original on 2019-08-16. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
  26. ↑ "Mauritania ex-president Aziz sentenced to 5 years for corruption". France 24. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
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