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