She is accused of using a bank card provided by an NGO to make personal purchases

This file photo was taken on October 26, 2011 showing the then new President of Mauritius Ameenah Gurib-Fakim shaking hands with Mauritius' Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth as they pose with the cabinet during her swearing-in ceremony at the State House / AFP PHOTO / NICOLAS LARCHE

Mauritius President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim resigned after being embroiled in a scandal over her use of a credit card to buy luxury personal items, in an abrupt change of heart after vowing she would not stand down.

Gurib-Fakim, Africa’s only female head of state, submitted her resignation in the “national interest,” her lawyer Yousouf Mohamed told reporters.