By Joseph Akahome
Senegalese music superstar, Youssou Ndour has been appointed Minister of Tourism and Culture in newly sworn in President Macky Sall’s cabinet.
Ndour, 52, threw his weight behind Mr Sall in the presidential elections earlier this year after being disqualified from running as a candidate himself.
Senegal’s constitutional council had barred the singer from running on the grounds that he had failed to provide enough valid signatures to back his application.
Mr Sall, 50, who was sworn into office on Monday February 2, 2012 beat the incumbent, Abdoulaye Wade in a runoff vote last month.
The Grammy-award winning Mr Ndour is one of 25 new appointees to the cabinet headed by Prime Minister Abdoul Mbaye.
Earlier, in celebration of Mr Sall’s victory, Ndour performed live in in one of the main squares in the capital, Dakar.
