NEW BURUNDIAN CABINET APPOINTMENTS

UNCLAS BUJUMBURA 000037 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/C AND INR E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR ECON BY SUBJECT: NEW BURUNDIAN CABINET APPOINTMENTS REF: BUJUMBURA 27 ¶1. Burundian President Nkurunziza on January 23 announced the following Cabinet appointments: -- Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Breeding: Jean de Dieu Mutabazi -- Minister of Commerce and Industry: Donatien Nijimbere -- Minister of Planning, Development and National Reconstruction: Jean Bigirimana. ¶2. The appointments come after weeks of speculation about an imminent cabinet shakeup. President Nkurunziza dismissed the former Minister of Planning, Dieudonne Ngowembona, amid allegations that he mishandled the sale of the Presidential aircraft (reftel). His successor, Jean Bigirimana, was most recently Minister of Commerce. Before heading Commerce, Bigirimana previously served as Minister of Transportation, Post, and Telecommunications. Bio Notes -------------- ¶3. Jean de Dieu Mutabazi is an agronomist by training. He is the former spokesperson and Secretary General of the opposition Front for Democracy in Burundi (FRODEBU.) An ethnic Hutu, he was a member of Parliament elected on the FRODEBU ticket in Bujumbura. During the transition, he was Chief of Staff of the Speaker of the National Assembly. Mr. Mutabazi is the brother in law of former President Sylvestre Ntibantunganya, and he fled Burundi in 1996 after President Buyoya came to power. He remained in Belgium until the signing of the Arusha Accords. Some observers believe he has recently joined the ruling CNDD-FDD. ¶4. Donatien Nijimbere, an ethnic Hutu, is from Ruyigi province. A member of the CNDD-FDD, he was the finance director of the National Social Security Institute. During the transition, he was a FRODEBU member of the National Assembly. He earned a degree in management at a private university. MOLLER