PORT LOUIS: Mauritius President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim resigned on Saturday after being embroiled in a scandal over her use of a credit card to buy luxury personal items, in an abrupt change of heart after vowing she would not stand down.

Gurib-Fakim, Africa’s only female head of state, submitted her resignation in the “national interest,” her lawyer Yousouf Mohamed told reporters.

He said her resignation would take effect on March 23, a move that will bring down the curtain on a saga that has gripped the Indian Ocean archipelago for weeks.

Gurib-Fakim had vowed to fight the accusations that she used a bank card provided by an NGO to make personal purchases, including jewellery and luxury goods worth at least 25,000 euros.

Published in Dawn, March 18th, 2018