KOUPAKI LOSES POWER IN MINISTERIAL REALINGMENT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 COTONOU 000871

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/W (DBANKS)
PARIS FOR D'ELIA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR BN
SUBJECT: KOUPAKI LOSES POWER IN MINISTERIAL REALINGMENT

REFERENCE: A) COTONOU 508 B) COTONOU 494 C) COTONOU 440


1. Summary. In his fourth ministerial re-shuffle since he took
office a year and a half ago, President Boni Yayi made major changes
to his economic team on October 2, 2007. According to press reports
and reliable sources, Yayi fired Segbegnon HOUNGBO, Minister
Delegate for Budget in the Office of the Minister of Finance and
curtailed the portfolio of Pascal KOUPAKI, Minister of State,
formerly in charge of the Economy, Economic Forecasting, Development
and the Evaluation of Public Action. Soule Mana LAWANI, Minister of
Finance, comes out as a winner in the re-shuffle with some of the
power Koupaki lost. The Ministry of Primary Education, Literacy and
National Languages has been re-organized. The President created a
new Ministry of Literacy and National Languages to be headed by
Roger Gbegnonvi, a professor and popular political activist. End
Summary.

2.(SBU) Sources close to the President have confirmed that this
re-shuffle is a reaction to Koupaki's apparent failure to adequately
supervise the privatization of SONAPRA, Benin's cotton parastatal.
The privatization of cotton, which was marked by several
irregularities, fell apart completely last week and the bidding
process will have to be repeated.


3. Koupaki has lost some of his previous power and a large part of
his Ministry, which had recently been created by subdividing the
large Ministry of Finance. In his portfolio as Minister of State,
Koupaki had broad control over most economic policy and much of the
Ministry of Finance. After the realignment he will retain only his
responsibilities in the arena of economic development and planning.
In this role he will continue to supervise all development
assistance including MCC and USAID.


4. In the organization of his part of the subdivided Ministry of
Finance, Koupaki has been doing battle against the unions
representing Finance Ministry workers, to eliminate the practice of
special bonuses, known in French as "primes", paid to Finance
Ministry workers, in addition to their salaries, to complete tasks
which are part of their jobs. Koupaki was known in the past to be
close to the President but has recently come under criticism by
European diplomats for a management style which some describe as
peremptory and aloof. In point of fact, Koupaki's direct,
professional, no nonsense management style contributes in long part
to donor confidence in the GOB's economic reform program.


5. Another casualty in the Ministry of Finance is the Minister
Delegate for the Budget Segbegnon Houngbo, who was relieved of his
position in the Finance Ministry after he made public the GOB's
failure to spend approximately 65% of the money budgeted for 2007
(seven weeks before the end of Benin's fiscal year). For example,
in the education sector, the GOB will only spend 50% of the money it
has budgeted. This is an embarrassment for the President who has
made one of his chief priorities the provision of free elementary
education and an increase in the numbers of school's and teachers.



6. President Yayi detached the literacy and national languages
component of the Ministry of Primary Education, Literacy and
National Languages and assigned it to Roger Gbegnonvi who becomes
the new Minister of Literacy and the Promotion of National
Languages. Gbegnonvi is a well known and active member of Benin's
civil society.


7. BIOGRAPHIC NOTE: Mr Roger Gbegnonvi currently serves as a
literature and linguistics professor at the University of Abomey
Calavi. He holds a doctorate from Germany. He served for ten years
as the country representative of the German political foundation
Friedrich Nauman (associated with Germany's liberal Free Democratic
Party). When the foundation closed his office, he engaged in
extensive civil society activities, criticizing fiercely the former
Kerekou's regime. Prior to the March 2006 presidential election, he
fiercely opposed the proposed constitutional revision which
threatened to extend former President Kerekou's mandate. He is
known as a champion of good governance and anti-corruption efforts.
Though Mr. Gbegnonvi is an influential member of the civil society,
he is often seen on the periphery of the Republican Front for a
Democratic Change (FRAP) which is a political party associated with
Chantal Yayi, Benin's First Lady. Mr. Gbegnonvi is 61 years old. He
is married to a German citizen who works for the German Embassy in
Cotonou. They have 3 children. END BIOGRAPHIC NOTE

8.(SBU) Comment. Koupaki's demission is a clear response to the
failure of the GOB's efforts to privatize the cotton parastatal
SONAPRA. Whether or not Koupaki is solely responsible the failure
is debatable, but he has taken the public fall. Beyond this clearly
public reason some critics of the Government have also attributed
Koupaki's loss of executive power in the Ministry of Finance to
President Yayi's supporters in northern Benin who fear a Koupaki run

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in the 2011 presidential race. However, there is no indication of
political ambitions from Koukpaki himself, a visionary manager and
technocrat par excellence. Houngbo's loss of work is less
disconcerting as the major donors have identified the GOB's lack of
absorptive capacity as a major impediment to development in Benin.
End Comment.

BROWN