MORE BURUNDIAN CABINET SHUFFLING

UNCLAS BUJUMBURA 000094

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/C

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KPAO PGOV PINR PREL
SUBJECT: MORE BURUNDIAN CABINET SHUFFLING

REF: BUJUMBURA 27


1. (U) Burundian President Nkurunziza on February 12
appointed new ministers of Planning, Development, and
Reconstruction and of Information, Communications, and
Parliamentary Relations. Mr. Tabu Abdallah Manirakiza will
replace Jean Bigirimana as the Minister of Planning. Mrs.
Hafsa Mossi succeeds Ramdahan Karenga as Minister of
Communications and government spokesperson.


2. (U) These dismissals are part of a continued
reorganization of the Burundian cabinet following the recent
replacement of Hussein Radjabu as president of the ruling
Council for the Defense of Democracy ) Front for Defense of
Democracy (CNDD-FDD). Both Bigirimana and Karenga were
staunch Radjabu supporters. Bigirimana himself was only
recently appointed to his position following the dismissal of
former Minister of Planning Dieudonne Ngowembona, who was
implicated in the irregular sale of the President,s jet in
summer 2006 while serving as Minister of Finance.


3. (U) Hafsa Mossi is a Hutu and a Muslim. She received her
diploma in journalism and began her career in 1993 with the
Channel for Africa in South Africa. In 1998 she moved to
London to work in the Swahili section of the BBC. She
returned to Burundi following the CNDD-FDD victory in the
September 2005 elections and was appointed spokesperson for
the President.


4. (U) Tabu Abdallah Manirakiza is also a Hutu and a Muslim.
A prior refugee in Rwanda and resident of Switzerland, Mr.
Manirakiza has spent most of his career outside of Burundi.
He maintained the CNDD-FDD Abarundi.org website while abroad.
He returned to Burundi in 2006 as the Director of Budget and
State Control before assuming his present duties as Minister
of Planning.


5. (SBU) Comment: Former Communications Minister Karenga was
also a member of the senior government committee appointed to
review the results of an audit of procedures concerning the
tender for the sale of the plane. It is as yet unclear
whether Ms. Mossi will take his place on the committee.
Karenga was outspoken in his defense of the government,s
handling of the sale, telling diplomats that the government
could choose to give the plane away if it so chose. Many
observers have suggested that Radjabu played a major role in
the decision making process leading up to the sale. These
two most recent appointments suggest not only that the
President is continuing to consolidate his power base within
the government, but also that he is seeking to deflect
persistent charges of public sector corruption. At the same
time, his selection of Manirakiza and Mossi may suggest that
he is cognizant of the concerns of Burundi,s Islamic
community, of which Radjabu and Karenga are prominent
members.
MOLLER