A Gen Z uprising has pushed Madagascar’s former leader Andry Rajoelina, not only out of office but out of the country.
In his place is Colonel Michael Randrianirina, who was sworn in as president of the island nation last month after his military unit joined the protesters.
Sky News’ Africa correspondent Yousra Elbagir sits down with the new leader.
The first question I ask Colonel Randrianirina, as he sits in an ornate mahogany chair in his military fatigues, is how it feels to be in the palace as president.
He sighs and sinks deeper into the chair. He looks humbled and struggles to find the words.
“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 military unit, Corps d’Administration des Personnels et des Services 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 support the movement.
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At least 22 protesters have been killed and more than 100 injured after denouncing the power cuts and water shortages that have come to signify government corruption in 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.”
Soon after his speech, soldiers allowed the young protesters rejecting then president Andry Rajoelina to occupy Place du 13 Mai Square on Independence Avenue in the heart of Antananarivo, the island nation’s capital.
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Colonel Randrianirina paraded through a crowd and addressed them from the hatch of an armoured vehicle. “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 National Assembly voted to impeach him for “desertion of duty”. Three days later, Colonel Randrianirina stood in fatigues in front of the palace. With officers by his side, he announced their seizure of power and the dissolution of the constitution and all government institutions outside of the National Assembly.
Shortly after, the African Union suspended Madagascar‘s membership on account of the military takeover.
In the palace as president, he insists that this is not a military 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 were not conducting any coup at all, it was the president [Rajoelina] himself who decided to leave the country.”
United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres condemned “the unconstitutional change of government in Madagascar” and called for “the return to constitutional order and the rule of law,” when reports of a military takeover first circulated on 16 October. The day we met the new president, he had just 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 country – a process he admits might take a long time.
Observers are concerned that elections will be postponed and the new president will become another strongman, but Gen Z organisers are holding on to faith that this hard-earned outcome is worth it.
‘We were living under a dictatorship’
I asked a group of five young organisers if they have concerns that the president will become another dictator, just like previous Malagasy rulers who ascended to power off the back of a popular uprising. Ousted president Mr Rajoelina came into power after protests in 2009 that also ended in a CAPSAT-supported coup.
University student Ratsirarisoa Nomena told us: “The new president is not a dictator… he is listening to the people and he is validated by the people.
“We as students also validated him – he is not a dictator because the motivation of the army is from the people for the people.
“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.”
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Their president is aware of their support and does not credit Gen Z alone for his place in 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 told 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 people, including the Gen Z, government officials and trade unions really wanted change so it is the whole Malagasy people that supported me to this point.”
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Across Africa, young people are showing their disapproval of the old 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 old leaders on a young 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.”
