Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06BANJUL691
2006-11-06 20:05:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Banjul
Cable title:  

THE GAMBIA: MORE ON CABINET RESHUFFLE

Tags:  ECON PGOV PHUM PREL GA 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO1070
RR RUEHPA
DE RUEHJL #0691/01 3102005
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 062005Z NOV 06
FM AMEMBASSY BANJUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7109
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BANJUL 000691 

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/06/2016
TAGS: ECON PGOV PHUM PREL GA
SUBJECT: THE GAMBIA: MORE ON CABINET RESHUFFLE

REF: A) BANJUL 652 B) BANJUL 588 ET AL C) BANJUL 668

(ALL NOTAL)

BANJUL 00000691 001.2 OF 003


Classified By: AMBASSADOR JOSEPH STAFFORD, REASON 1.4 (B AND D)

SUMMARY
--------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BANJUL 000691

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/06/2016
TAGS: ECON PGOV PHUM PREL GA
SUBJECT: THE GAMBIA: MORE ON CABINET RESHUFFLE

REF: A) BANJUL 652 B) BANJUL 588 ET AL C) BANJUL 668

(ALL NOTAL)

BANJUL 00000691 001.2 OF 003


Classified By: AMBASSADOR JOSEPH STAFFORD, REASON 1.4 (B AND D)

SUMMARY
--------------


1. (C) Following the appointment of Secretaries of State
(ministers) for Foreign Affairs, Trade, Industry and
Employment, and Tourism and Culture, the GOTG cabinet
reshuffle initiated October 18-19 is now virtually complete;
only the post of Attorney General and Secretary of State for
Justice remains to be filled. With only three new faces in
the 18-member cabinet and no expectation of any significant
policy changes, our contacts have given a ho-hum reaction to
the reshuffle. However, the reshuffle did serve to underscore
Jammeh,s confidence in various long-serving members, such as
Vice President Isatou Njie Saidy. The new Foreign Affairs
Secretary of State, Bala Garba Jahumpa, is likely to be a

SIPDIS
weak performer, like his predecessor. Perhaps most noteworthy
about the reshuffle is the departure of two persons
considered close to Jammeh, former Secretary General Mambury
Njie and former Trade, Industry and Employment Secretary of
State Alieu Ngum. Few sources regret the departure of Sheikh
Tijan Hydara as Attorney General and Justice Secretary of
State, but we are told that Jammeh is having difficulty in
finding a successor. A major constraint on the cabinet,s
institutional role in policy-making is President Jammeh,s
insistence at being personally at the center of
decision-making, including on relatively minor matters. END
SUMMARY.

OVERVIEW
--------------


2. (U) Ref A reported President Yahya Jammeh,s October 18-19
cabinet reshuffle, with the large majority of members staying
on, either in their previous positions or assuming new
portfolios. (NOTE: the 18-member cabinet consists of the
President, Vice President, Secretary General, and 16
Secretaries of State, i.e. Ministers. The President appoints

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all other cabinet members, including the Vice President.
Jammeh currently handles personally the portfolios for

Defense, Energy, and, following the reshuffle, that of Works,
Construction, and Infrastructure. The Vice President, Isatou
Njie Saidy, also handles the Women,s Affairs portfolio. END
NOTE.)


3. (U) Following the initial reshuffle, Jammeh made the
following additional appointments:

-- Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs: Bala Garba
Jahumpa, replacing the briefly-serving Maba Jobe, whose
October 19 appointment was rescinded;

-- Secretary of State for Trade, Industry, and Employment:
Susan Waffa-Ogoo;

-- Secretary of Tourism and Culture: Angela Cooley.

Both Jahumpa and Waffa-Ogoo served in the outgoing cabinet,
holding the Works, Construction, and Infrastructure and
Tourism and Culture portfolios, respectively. One cabinet
slot remains vacant, that of Attorney General and Secretary
of State for Justice. (COMMENT: The outgoing Foreign
Affairs Secretary of State, Lamin Kaba Bajo, was among the
cabinet,s weaker performers, and his successor, Bala Garba
Jahumpa, known as a pro-Jammeh diehard, is not likely to be
much of an improvement. END COMMENT.)

HO-HUM REACTION TO THE RESHUFFLE
--------------


4. (C) Following Jammeh,s re-election in the September 22
balloting (ref b),he had been widely expected to reshuffle
the cabinet in order to show that he remains in charge,
according to a well-informed journalist. However, our
contacts have expressed surprise that Jammeh acted so
quickly, prior to his formal inauguration in December. In
any event, our sources have reacted in ho-hum fashion to the
reshuffle, ruling out any significant changes in GOTG
policies. They also note that the new cabinet includes only
three newcomers, Ya-Elli Harding (Secretary General),Angela
Cooley (Tourism and Culture) and Kanja Sanneh (Agriculture).
(COMMENT: Harding is a well-established senior official,
having previously served as aide to the Secretary General in
the capacity of Secretary to the Cabinet. Both Cooley and
Sanneh are unknown to us, although the latter at least,
receives high marks for his previous service at the National
Agriculture Research Institute see ref A. As for Colley, she

BANJUL 00000691 002.2 OF 003


has previously served as a school administrator and teacher,
with no discernible background in the tourism or cultural
affairs sectors. END COMMENT.)

JAMMEH,S INNER CIRCLE
--------------


5. (C) Despite the ho-hum reactions, the reshuffle served to
underscore Jammeh,s confidence in various of the
longer-serving cabinet members, led by Vice President
Njie-Saidy, originally appointed following Jammeh,s initial
election in 1996. While not generally regarded as among the
more influential cabinet members, she plays a vital role; in
contrast to the irascible, rough-hewn Jammeh, she is
well-educated and polished and thus equipped to serve as the
smiling face of the Government, in the words of a
knowledgeable source. Two other cabinet members have served
even longer than the Vice President, Susan Waffa-Ogoo (Trade,
Industry, and Employment) and Edward Singhateh (Forestry and
Environment). Both have served continuously in the cabinet
since Jammeh,s accession to power via coup in 1994;
Singhateh, as a young military officer like Jammeh, was a
leading figure in the coup. As for Waffa-Ogoo, she grew up
in the same household as Jammeh and established herself over
the years as a key confidant of Jammeh. Over the past year,
there have been reports of the pair losing influence with
Jammeh, but their retention in the cabinet suggests his
continued reliance on them as advisers.


6. (C) A third veteran cabinet member is Yankouba Touray,
who, like Singhateh, played a major role in Jammeh,s
successful overthrow attempt in 1994. Touray,s cabinet
career has been somewhat checkered; although serving for long
periods in various cabinet positions following the coup, his
involvement in corruption led to his ouster from the cabinet
in fall 2003; he did not return until 2005, as Secretary of
State for Agriculture. Noted for his political skills,
Touray, a senior official in the ruling APRC party, was
prominent figure in Jammeh,s re-election campaign. (COMMENT:
Sources claim that Jammeh decided to return Touray to the
cabinet in order to give him a platform for his campaigning
in rural areas on behalf of Jammeh,s re-election bid. END
COMMENT.) A fourth cabinet member of note is Finance and
Economic Affairs Secretary of State Mousa Bala Gaye.
Although Bala Gaye is a relative newcomer to the cabinet
(first appointed in 2003),he has established himself as
among its strongest performers. He is given considerable
credit for the GOTG,s improved economic performance and, in
particular, its progress in getting back on track with the
IMF following a rupture in 2003 over irregularities at the
Central Bank and other economic missteps by the GOTG.
(COMMENT: Indicative of that progress, per ref C, an IMF
delegation is currently here to negotiate a new PRGF for The
Gambia. END COMMENT.)

NOTEWORTHY DEPARTURES
--------------


7. (C) Perhaps most noteworthy about the reshuffle is the
departure of two others considered close to Jammeh --
Mambury Njie and Alieu Ngum, removed from the Secretary
General and Trade, Industry, and Development slots,
respectively. As Secretary General, Njie was, in effect, the
President,s senior adviser and had a lengthy record of
service in senior GOTG ranks. He previously served, inter
alia, as Permanent Secretary at the Presidency, under the
Secretary General,s supervision. In our regular contacts

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with Njie, he had struck us as an able and efficient adviser
to Jammeh, well aware of the latter,s mercurial, impulsive
tendencies and working, with occasional success, to soften
them. In past months, Njie had frequently been out of the
office due to ill health, and our sources believe that his
absences had reached the point that Jammeh had decided to
replace him. His successor and former aide, Ya-Elli Harding,
is reputedly knowledgeable, but is known for her extreme
discretion and retiring manner; her clout with Jammeh is
likely to be less than Njie,s. As for Ngum, he had also
previously served as Secretary General as well as in various
diplomatic positions including that of Ambassador to the EU
in Brussels. Our contacts are at a loss to explain his
departure, and some speculate that he will be offered an
Ambassadorship.

THE JUSTICE PORTFOLIO
--------------


8. (C) Few contacts regret the departure of Sheikh Tijan
Hydara as Attorney General and Secretary of State for
Justice. He was generally reckoned among the weakest
performers in the cabinet and had been previously appointed
to, and sacked from this portfolio. In our discussions with

BANJUL 00000691 003.2 OF 003


him, we found him poorly informed, vague about his
priorities, and unwilling to acknowledge or address the
GOTG,s deteriorating human rights performance over the past
year. According to our sources, the delay in naming
Hydara,s replacement is due to Jammeh,s difficulty in
finding a candidate. We are told that many respected legal
figures do not want the job, as they are aware of the
frequent turnover; Hydara is reckoned to be the tenth person
to occupy the position in as many years. We picked up a
report that Jammeh approached Hydara,s well-regarded
predecessor, veteran Justice Department official Raymond
Sock, but that he declined to return to the position for
health reasons.

CONCLUDING OBSERVATION: JAMMEH,S DOMINANT ROLE
-------------- --------------


9. (C) This latest cabinet reshuffle underscore Jammeh,s
penchant for frequently replacing senior officials, and
often, as in this case, no reason is given for the personnel
changes. In any event, Jammeh,s insistence at being always
at the center of the GOTG,s decision-making process
including on matters (e.g., minor appointments) that one
would expect to be handled at lower levels is a major
constraint on the cabinet,s institutional role in that
process. Our sense is that even the longest-serving cabinet
members are cautious in asserting themselves in cabinet
meetings and that all recognize that their primary duty is
not to participate in the formulation of policies, but to
implement Jammeh,s decisions.
STAFFORD