Sunday, January 25, 2009

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Mamadou Dia, The first Prime Minister of Senegal has died today at the age of 99. The cause of death was announced as natural causes. Dia died in Dakar, the capitol of Senegal.

Born on July 18, 1910 in Kombolé, Senegal, he served as Prime Minister of Senegal from 1957-1962.

Dia started life in politics as a leader in the Afrique occidentale française (AOF) in 1948, shortly before being elected as a senator in 1949. He retired his senate seat in 1955 when he was appointed prime minister by the French National Assembly to serve alongside the newly elected president Léopold Sédar Senghor. His time served as prime minister was often controversial and his radical socialist views often clashed with those of the more moderate Senghor.

Dia was imprisoned from 1962 to 1974.