São Tomé and Príncipe has a new head of government, replacing Patrice Trovoada, who was dismissed from his position as prime minister by the country’s president last week, reports the Portuguese news agency Lusa.
Ilza Maria dos Santos Amado Vaz, who was serving as São Tomé’s justice and administration minister at the time of her appointment, is now the country’s prime minister. She is the third woman to serve in the role, and one of three candidates proposed for the position by the governing Independent Democratic Action (ADI) party.
The other two candidates, legislative speaker Celmira Sacremento and health and women’s rights minister Ângela Costa, were also women. ADI Secretary-General Elísio Teixeira characterised the picks as experienced officials “who know and can continue the process of governance” while maintaining “the stability of relations between the party and the government and with São Toméan society.”
[See more: São Tomé and Príncipe has run out of money to pay for imports]
President Carlos Vila Nova dismissed the government last Monday, his presidential decree citing its “marked inability” to solve the country’s “numerous challenges” and “manifest institutional disloyalty” in relations with him.
He also pointed to the signing of international agreements, including those with Turkey and Venezuela, without his knowledge, as well as extended absences by Trovoada which amounted to nearly seven months.
Trovoada was the second prime minister to serve under Vila Nova since the president took office in October 2021, having replaced Jorge Bom Jesus, and this month marks the end of his fourth tenure as São Tomé’s prime minister – a position he has held on and off since 2008. With her appointment, Amado Vaz becomes the first woman to hold the post since Maria do Carmo Silveira ended her tenure in April 2006.
