Port-au-Prince, Haiti – There is tension in Haiti after reports emerged that the president of the country, Jovenel Moïse, has been assassinated at his private residence, in the nation’s capital of Port-au-Prince.

YNews reported that Moïse’s assassination was disclosed in a statement from Haiti’s interim prime minister, Claude Joseph.

Joseph reportedly stated that the deadly attack took place in the early hours of Wednesday, July 7.

The prime minister said:
“A group of individuals who have not been identified, some of whom were speaking Spanish, attacked the private residence of the President of the Republic and fatally injured the Head of State.”

He said the first lady was also shot but has survived the attack.

Aljazeera reported that the opposition in Haiti had accused Moise, who came into took office in 2017, of seeking to install a dictatorship by overstaying his mandate and becoming more authoritarian – charges he denied.

The opposition argued that Moïse’s five-year term should have ended on February 7, 2021, five years to the day since the former president, Martelly stepped down.

However, Moïse, insisted he had one more year to serve.

He had been ruling Haiti, by decree after legislative elections due in 2018 were delayed and following disputes on when his own term ended.