DAKAR   -   Bassirou Diomaye Faye, a left-wing pan-Africanist, was sworn in Tuesday as Senegal’s youngest presi­dent after sweeping to a first-round victory on a pledge of radical reform 10 days after he was re­leased from prison. The 44-year-old has never be­fore held an elected office but several African leaders attended the ceremony in the new town of Diamnia­dio, near the capital Da­kar. “Before God and the Senegalese nation, I swear to faithfully fulfil the of­fice of President of the Republic of Senegal,” Faye said before the gathered officials. He also vowed to “scrupulously observe the provisions of the Con­stitution and the laws” and to defend “the integ­rity of the territory and national independence, and to spare no effort to achieve African unity”. The formal handover of power with outgoing President Macky Sall will take place at the presidential palace in Dakar. Faye was among a group of political oppo­nents freed from prison 10 days before the March 24 presidential ballot under an amnesty announced by Sall, who had tried to de­lay the vote.