Domestic
CNaPS: Soatiana Bety Léonne Takes Helm of Troubled Institution
The National Social Security Fund (CNaPS) has a new leader. Soatiana Bety Léonne, former minister of Labor, Employment and Civil Service, was appointed director general during the Council of Ministers on August 13. She returns to office several months after leaving government following the March cabinet reshuffle. The new director is already familiar with the institution's affairs, having previously overseen it in her ministerial capacity. The recruitment process for the new leadership had been launched under her tenure in February, receiving 109 applications. Her appointment ends several months of interim management following Vimbina Rahaingonjatovo's departure in January. She inherits a CNaPS marked by particularly turbulent leadership changes. For a decade, Raoul Arizaka Rabekoto led the Fund before his removal in March 2019. His tenure remains associated with one of the institution's most serious judicial cases. In 2021, the Anti-Corruption Unit sentenced him to ten years of hard labor and 500 million ariary in fines, notably for embezzlement of public funds and abuse of office in a CNaPS-related matter. After an interim period, Mamy Rakotondrainibe, former head of DHL Madagascar, was appointed in November 2019. His mandate ended in April 2022 when his appointment was revoked amid judicial proceedings for suspected corruption and embezzlement. Joslina Fridoline Tsaboto, who had previously served as interim leader after Rabekoto's departure, resumed temporary control. In August 2023, Vimbina Rahaingonjatovo became official director general. His mandate ended in early January 2026, amid the CNaPS-SMGD affair. This case involves an 11 billion ariary loan granted in 2021 to the Municipal Digital Management Company, with several billion remaining unpaid. The matter has since taken on judicial dimensions. Soatiana Bety Léonne now heads a strategic but weakened institution, fraught with successive controversies. Beyond managing pensions, allowances and contributions, her main challenge will be governance and restoring confidence. After several leadership tenures interrupted under difficult circumstances, her appointment will be judged both on CNaPS performance and her ability to definitively close the chapter on the affairs that have shaken the Fund.
Source: Madagascar Tribune