A Gen Z rebellion has pushed Madagascar’s former chief Andry Rajoelina, not solely out of workplace however in a foreign country.
In his place is Colonel Michael Randrianirina, who was sworn in as president of the island nation final month after his army unit joined the protesters.
The primary query I ask Colonel Randrianirina, as he sits in an ornate mahogany chair in his army fatigues, is the way it feels to be within the palace as president.
He sighs and sinks deeper into the chair. He appears humbled and struggles to seek out the phrases.
“How do I put it?” he says. “I am happy and it is also a great honour to have come to this palace to be able to help and support the Malagasy people in deep poverty.”
As commander of an elite non-combatant army unit, Corps d’Administration des Personnels et des Providers de l’Armée de Terre (CAPSAT), the colonel rode a wave of Gen Z protests to the palace. On 11 October, he shared a video on social media instructing officers to disobey shoot-to-kill orders and assist the motion.
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The brand new Madagascan chief, Colonel Michael Randrianirina
At the least 22 protesters have been killed and greater than 100 injured after denouncing the facility cuts and water shortages which have come to indicate authorities corruption within the impoverished island nation.
Why did he share the pivotal video?
He says: “I am a military officer but I am also part of the people and I will return to the people. When you feel sorry for what the people are suffering from… they have been poor for so long and wealth has been looted – but you still shoot them and kill them. That was not why I entered the military of Madagascar, to kill people.”
Quickly after his speech, troopers allowed the younger protesters rejecting then president Andry Rajoelina to occupy Place du 13 Mai Sq. on Independence Avenue within the coronary heart of Antananarivo, the island nation’s capital.
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October: Madagascar’s president flees nation after coup
Colonel Randrianirina paraded by way of a crowd and addressed them from the hatch of an armoured car. “The president of the nation has to leave… If that does not happen,” he threatened, “we will see”.
After Mr Rajoelina fled Madagascar on 13 October, the Nationwide Meeting voted to question him for “desertion of duty”. Three days later, Colonel Randrianirina stood in fatigues in entrance of the palace. With officers by his aspect, he introduced their seizure of energy and the dissolution of the structure and all authorities establishments outdoors of the Nationwide Meeting.
Shortly after, the African Union suspended Madagascar’s membership on account of the army takeover.
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An indication in Antananarivo final month. Pic: Reuters
Within the palace as president, he insists that this isn’t a army coup.
“It is support for the people and the country and for us to not be prone to civil war – between the people – between the military officers and your needs, so you adjust helping to support the people to avoid this.
“We weren’t conducting any coup in any respect, it was the president [Rajoelina] himself who determined to depart the nation.”
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Sky Information meets Colonel Randrianirina
United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres condemned “the unconstitutional change of government in Madagascar” and known as for “the return to constitutional order and the rule of law,” when experiences of a army takeover first circulated on 16 October. The day we met the brand new president, he had simply been congratulated by France’s President Emmanuel Macron.
Colonel Randrianirina is promising elections in 18 to 24 months, after what he calls a “refoundation and recovery” of the nation – a course of he admits would possibly take a very long time.
Observers are involved that elections will likely be postponed and the brand new president will develop into one other strongman, however Gen Z organisers are holding on to religion that this hard-earned end result is value it.
‘We had been residing beneath a dictatorship’
I requested a bunch of 5 younger organisers if they’ve considerations that the president will develop into one other dictator, identical to earlier Malagasy rulers who ascended to energy off the again of a preferred rebellion. Ousted president Mr Rajoelina got here into energy after protests in 2009 that additionally resulted in a CAPSAT-supported coup.
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Police patrolling the streets throughout final month’s protests. Pic: AP
College scholar Ratsirarisoa Nomena advised us: “The new president is not a dictator… he is listening to the people and he is validated by the people.
“We as college students additionally validated him – he’s not a dictator as a result of the motivation of the military is from the folks for the folks.
“We were living under dictatorship. There was no freedom of expression and it was very hard to fight for that in Madagascar. We had to face being injured and losing our lives and the lives of our fellow students. Malagasy citizens who fought with us lost their lives too. This is what we went through – to me, we are halfway to victory.”
Their president is conscious of their assist and doesn’t credit score Gen Z alone for his place within the palace.
“Generation Z are part of the reason [I am here] but the full Malagasy people really wanted change at the time we are speaking,” Mr Randrianirina advised me. “The Malagasy people have been suffering for so long and deprived of fundamental rights – no access to water supply and electricity, facing insecurity.
“Malagasy folks, together with the Gen Z, authorities officers and commerce unions actually wished change so it’s the entire Malagasy those who supported me so far.”
Throughout Africa, younger persons are displaying their disapproval of the previous guard.
Gen Z protesters have made their mark in Tanzania, Kenya, Cameroon, Morocco, Mozambique and Nigeria in 2025 alone – denouncing disputed elections and the corruption impacting their futures.
Is the Gen Z coup of Madagascar a warning for previous leaders on a younger continent?
“I don’t know what to say about the other countries, but I know my own country,” Mr Randrianirina says.
“If tomorrow the people of Madagascar hate me, then I will leave this palace.”
