For years, rumours swirled about the mansion hidden behind the tall grey gates. Perched on a high hilltop in Madagascar’s capital of Antananarivo, it was one of several homes belonging to President Andry Rajoelina.

“I wouldn’t hang around there,” a wary passer-by warned earlier this week. “There are seven snipers and 14 guard dogs patrolling inside.” True or not, Rajoelina’s mansion was spared the fate that has befallen the homes of at least three of his close associates, which demonstrators on the Indian Ocean island attacked during a weeks-long, violent political crisis.

Rajoelina himself hasn’t been so lucky. A groundswell of protests pushed him out of power on Monday, capping the stunning rise and fall of the charismatic 51-year-old media mogul and DJ-turned-president who has led this African country on and off since 2009.