The Nigerien government has appointed Clémence Aïssatou Habi, widow of former President Ibrahim Baré Mainassara, as Niger’s ambassador to the United States. This appointment marks the return to the diplomatic scene of a figure who had long remained out of the public eye following the tragic death of her husband in 1999.
A medical doctor by training, specializing in parasitology and committed to the fight against HIV/AIDS, Mrs. Baré previously ran the private Pasteur Medical Clinic in Niamey while also teaching at the Faculty of Medicine. She had been living in France since the assassination of her husband following a military coup.
Ibrahim Baré Mainassara came to power on January 27, 1996, after overthrowing the Alliance of the Forces of Change regime. His presidency, marked by a controversial election later that year, came to a brutal end on April 9, 1999, when he was shot and killed by members of his own presidential guard, then under the command of Major Daouda Mallam Wanké.
Since then, his widow and members of his political party, the RDP Jama’a (Rally for Democracy and Progress), have consistently called for an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death.
With this appointment to Washington, Clémence Aïssatou Baré assumes a new, diplomatic role, at a time when the country’s history continues to intertwine with the personal journeys of its former leaders.