NEW PM NAMES CABINET - A FIRST LOOK

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CONAKRY 000307 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/20/2018 TAGS: PGOV KDEM ASEC GV SUBJECT: NEW PM NAMES CABINET - A FIRST LOOK Classified By: A/DCM SHANNON CAZEAU FOR REASON 1.4 B AND D ¶1. (U) Nearly one month after he was sworn in, Prime Minister Ahmed Tidiane Souare finally announced his cabinet on June 19. These appointments follow on the June 13 announcement restructuring the government, which created a total of 33 ministries, and three secretary general positions (reftel). Information on key ministers is provided in this cable. Bio notes on other cabinet members will be sent in separately, as well as more detailed analysis of the cabinet as a whole, and the public reaction. ¶2. (U) Eight of the positions are filled by members of former Prime Minister Kouyate's government, although some of these have been reshuffled: -- Dr. Ousmane Dore has been retained as the Minister of Finance. -- Amadou Diallo has been appointed as the Minister of Youth Employment (previously was the Minister of Labor) -- Ahmed Kante has been retained as the Minister of Mines -- Dr. Ousmane Souare has been appointed as the Minister of Pre-University and Civic Education (previously was the Minister of Education) -- Dr. Mahmoud Camara has been retained as the Minister of Agriculture. -- Amadou Oury Bah has been retained as the Secretary General of the Government -- Nabanyou Cherif has been retained as the Secretary General of Religious Affairs -- Sam Mamady Soumah has been retained as the Secretary General of the Presidency, but the position has been promoted to the ministerial level. ¶3. (U) There is one additional appointment that comes from Kouyate's administration, but it was imposed on Kouyate by President Conte: -- Issa Conde is now the Minister of Youth and Sports (previously was the Minister of Information, appointed by Conte in January 2007). -------------- PRELIMINARY BIO NOTES ON KEY MINISTERS -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Minister of Foreign Affairs ) Amadou Lamarana Bah. Bah is a career diplomat and served for some time in the Guinean Embassy in Paris. He is not affiliated with any political party. In the past, he has sometimes been helpful to the American mission in Guinea in addressing routine requests such as diplomatic visas. He is known to be direct and to speak his mind. Bah is a Peuhl from Pita. ¶5. (SBU) Minister of Defense ) Almaly Kabele Camara. Camara is Guinea's second civilian to head the Defense Ministry. He was the director of the former Port Authority until he was sacked in 2006 by Fode Bangoura. He was appointed as the Minister of the Interior under former Prime Minister Cellou Dallein Diallo,s 24-hour government, and is considered to be very close to Cellou. (COMMENT. After dissolving his cabinet, Cellou worked with Conte for three months to name a new cabinet. The day after the new cabinet was announced, Cellou and his entire goverment were dismissed. END COMMENT). Camara is an active member of the PUP. His brother, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, was a member of Kouyate,s government. Camara is a Soussou from Coyah. ¶6. (C) Minister of Territorial Administration and Political Affairs - Sekou Bangoura. Considered to be a close ally to President Conte, Bangoura previously served as the "Director of Cooperation," but it is unclear when or exactly what this position represented. He is viewed as some to be corrupt, allegedly using his previous position to siphon off economic assistance from international donors. Bangoura is an ethnic Soussou. ¶7. (C) Minister of Security and Civil Protection ) Mohamed Damba. Damba is a former Commissioner of Police and is a career police officer, although immediately before his appointment, he was not actually serving in the police force. He received U.S. anti-terrorist training in 1986. He is seen as collaborative, though likely corrupt. Damba is from Fria (Maritime Guinea). ¶8. (SBU) Minister of Justice ) Bachir Toure. Until his appointment, Toure was serving as a Deputy to the National Assembly. He is an active member of the PUP. Because of his role in the National Assembly, he likely has some political relationship to the National Assembly President, Boubacar CONAKRY 00000307 002 OF 002 Sompare. Toure studied in Paris and is considered an intellectual. He is a Soussou from Forecariah. ¶9. (SBU) Minister of Industrial Development ) Youssouf Diallo. A private businessman, Diallo became head of the Patronat when Mamadou Syllah was arrested and put in prison in late 2006. When Syllah reemerged around May 2007, after the civil unrest of early 2007, he claimed that he was the legitimately elected president of the Patronat, which essentially split the Patronat into two groups. Yousouff Diallo headed one of those groups until his ministerial appointment. Diallo owns a shipping company, Transmar. He was educated in France and has a degree in logistics. Diallo is a Peuhl from Mamou. His wife, Aissatou Bella Diallo, is a former Minister of Information under Cellou Diallo who is considered very close to President Conte. His step-son runs Liberty FM, a Guinean radio station. ¶10. (C) Minister of Communication and New Informational Technologies - Tibou Kamara. Camara, at 34 years old, is Souare's youngest appointment. He is a journalist and founder of the newspaper, "L'Observateur", a platform he used to criticize several previous governments, including Kouyate's. In a move that undermined former Prime Minister Kouyate's authority, President Conte appointed Kamara president of the National Communications Commission (CNC), the Guinean media regulatory board, earlier this year. Kamara authored the first book on Conte's public policy, "General Conte: My Politics," which was widely regarded as a propaganda piece. Kamara was previously appointed as the Minister of Information in Cellou Diallo,s brief-lived 24-hour government. Kamara has been arrested and released from prison several times. He is from an ethnic Peuhl minority from Dinguraye, and his wife's sister is the wife of the President of The Gambia. ¶11. (SBU) Minister of Decentralization and Local Development ) Ibrahima Diakite. Diakite is an outspoken and active member of civil society. He is seen as close to the prime minister's inner circle. Widely viewed as a dynamic reformer, Diakite worked in the decentralization sector before working with the USAID-funded project Faison Ensemble, a position he held until his appointment. Diakite is an ethnic Soussou from Forecariah, and speaks Peuhl and Soussou. ¶12. (SBU) Minister of Fisheries ) Youssouf Sylla. Sylla holds a PhD in economics from a U.S. university and worked at the World Bank in Washington until the early 1990s. Thereafter, he served at the Ministry of Planning and the Ministry of Finance. He served in his last government position as director of the national budget seven years ago. He is considered to be a technocrat. He is a Peuhl from Mamou. CARTER