COTTON CHAOS CLAIMS A VICTIM: PRESIDENT YAYI FIRES HIS

UNCLAS COTONOU 001176 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/EPS:KRZYWDA, AF/W:BANKS, EB/TPP/ABT:LERSTEN DEPT PASS TO COMMERCE:MD'ANDREA AND USTR:AHEYLIGER/LAGAMA PARIS FOR D'ELIA DAKAR FOR FAS (RHANSON) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON EAGR EINV PGOV PINR BN SUBJECT: COTTON CHAOS CLAIMS A VICTIM: PRESIDENT YAYI FIRES HIS AGRICULTURE MINISTER REF: A) COTONOU 1167; B) COTONOU 1153 ¶1. SUMMARY: Mr. Roger Dovonou is Benin's new Minister of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fishing, replacing Mr. Gaston Dossouhoui. Dossouhoui was dismissed on November 30, apparently for his failure to keep the President informed about continuing difficulties with this year's cotton season (REF A). END SUMMARY. ¶2. The new Minister of Agriculture, Roger Dovonou, until his appointment was Assistant to the Chief of Staff of the same Ministry. An agronomist by profession, Mr. Dovonou, has held a number of government and other positions on agricultural policy in Benin, including as Inspector General of the Interprofessional Cotton Association's payment agency. He is a graduate of the Faculty of Agricuture of the University of Abomey-Calavi. According to press reports, he also has a certificate as an Econonomist-Statistician from the United States. He is married and has four children. ¶3. Appalled by the magnitude of the devastation of cotton plants caused by the "Helico Verpa" pest in the largest cotton producing town, Banikoara, during his visit on November 27, 2006, President Yayi said that he had done his utmost to encourage increased production, including through payment of arrears of USD 30M to cotton farmers, and he could not understand that the expected results would be thwarted by pest. Worse, he said, was that he was informed about this development only recently. Yayi declared that he will personally conduct the 2007-2008 campaign by inviting international tenders for bids by importers of inputs to Benin. He also complained that the large number of different cotton stakeholders' associations hampers the efficient functioning of the sector. ¶4. (SBU) COMMENT: Dossouhoui is the third of Yayi's 23 ministers to be fired since Yayi took office in April 2006 and loses his post just a week after the Transport Minister was dumped (REF B). Yayi hopes this will reinforce the message that poor performance will not be tolerated. Three of the four replacement ministers (one ministry was split in two) have been high-ranking bureaucrats from within the same ministry. Yayi is sticking to his professed desire to run a "technocratic" administration, and the firings do not seem to reflect any effort by Yayi to secure his political base. On the other hand, Yayi's dependence on the existing bureaucracy means he remains surrounded by key advisors he does not know all that well and seems to indicate the absence of any pool of talented loyalists on whom he could call. END COMMENT. BROWN