BENIN: PRESIDENT YAYI'S SECOND CABINET RESHUFFLE

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SIPDIS

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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL BN
SUBJECT: BENIN: PRESIDENT YAYI'S SECOND CABINET RESHUFFLE

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1. (U) SUMMARY: After months of suspense following the April 2008
legislative elections, President Yayi announced a second cabinet
reshuffle on October 22. The cabinet increased from 26 to 30
ministers, nineteen (19) of whom are new to the government. Of the
remaining eleven (11),three (3) ministers changed portfolios and
fifteen (15) ministers left the government. The titles of some
ministries changed; others have been split or combined. New
ministries included the Ministry of Maritime Economy, Maritime
Transportation and Port Reform, and the Ministry of Petroleum and
Mine Research. President Yayi appointed four members of the
opposition, two each from G4 and G13 respectively. The two G13
members declined the appointments while those from the MADEP (a
component of the G4) joined the cabinet. This is the first in a
series of cables on President Yayi's new cabinet. END SUMMARY.

2. (U) To encourage opposition participation in his government,
President Yayi appointed two members of the African Movement for
Democracy and Progress (MADEP),a component of the G4 group of
parties: Charles Kint Aguiar as Minister of Labor and Public
Administration, and Francois Abiola as Minister of Higher Education
and Scientific Research. He also appointed two members of G13, the
group of 13 dissident parties formerly in the presidential majority
(FCBE). Leon Comlan Ahossi was appointed Minister of the
Environment and Nature Conservation and Valentin Aditi Houde
Minister of Sports and Leisure. Neither MADEP or G13 appointees
attended the hand-over ceremonies on October 23, and both political
parties announced that President Yayi had not formally consulted
them on the appointments. President Yayi replaced the two G13
candidates with two others who joined the government and attended
the first Council of Ministers meeting. President Yayi appointed
Victor Topanou, his former legal Advisor and General Secretary of
the Government as the new Minister of Justice and Spokesman of the
Government.

3. (SBU) The new Ministry of Maritime Economy, Maritime
Transportation and Port Reform will be almost exclusively devoted to
issues of port administration in order to ensure the success of
recently introduced reforms. During a luncheon at the Ambassador's
residence on October 23, Eushbe Agbangla, Desk Officer for the
Americas at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told her that the
creation of this ministry was directly related to recommendations
stemming from the September 25 two-year review of the five-year MCA
Compact, notably its largest project, the Access to Markets
infrastructure program which focuses on the Port of Cotonou. The
new Minister, Issa Soule Badarou, is an experienced port manager who
directed the port for over a decade in both the Kerekou and the
Soglo administrations. The creation of a ministry for Petroleum and
Mines Research reflects President Yayi's aim to expand focus on the
petroleum sector.


4. (U) Yayi split the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Small and
Medium Scale Enterprises into three: the Ministry of Industry, the
Ministry of Commerce, and the Ministry in Charge of Small and Medium
Scale Enterprises and Promotion of the Private Sector. The
President abolished the recently created Ministry of Literacy and
National Languages and rolled its literacy component into the
Ministry of Culture.


5. (U) The new government includes four women, down from six in the
previous government. Reckia Madougou, a social activist and former
U.S. "Woman of Courage" nominee, is Minister of Youth, Micro
Finance, and Youth and Women's Employment. Some observers
criticized this appointment on the grounds that "Civil Society"
should not be part of the Executive because of its role as monitor
and controller of government action. Bako Mamata Djaouga is the new
Minister of Craft Industry and Tourism. Christine Ouinsavi holds
the portfolio of Commerce, and Mamatou Marie Joe Meba Bio is the new
Minister of Family and Solidarity.


6. (U) This cabinet reshuffle ensures that each of the country's 12
provinces is represented in the government. Yayi appointed two
ministers per province. According to Victor Topanou, Government
Spokesman and Minister of Justice, the appointments reflect
President Yayi's desire to foster national unity. Topanou added that
President Yayi seeks to assign more responsibility to ministers and
therefore split ministries that combined too many duties to increase
efficiency.


7. (U) Initial media and public reaction to the appointments
commended the President for having chosen a well-balanced group of
technocrats. Some public voices, however, disapproved of the
replacement of Seibou Toleba, the former Minister of Culture,
Tourism and Craft Industry and the reassignment of Galiou Soglo from
the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Leisure to Culture. Trade
unionists criticized the government for creating additional expenses
while claiming that there is no money to satisfy workers' demands.


8. (SBU) COMMENT: This is the second reshuffle of the Yayi cabinet
since he came to power in early 2006 and the first time in the

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political history of the country that ministers declined their
appointments. The reshuffle demonstrates his efforts to build broad
consensus, although to date the G13 has refused to join. This
refusal most likely stems from G13 leaders' dissatisfaction with the
assigned portfolios, than from a categorical disinclination to join
this government. President Yayi's choices reflect an effort to
balance political considerations and technical qualifications. If
the new Speaker of the Government is right about President Yayi's
intentions to increase ministerial responsibility and delegation,
the donor community will welcome this change. Many donor country
representatives have criticized President Yayi's management style
for a marked absence of delegation of authority, which complicates
day-to-day interactions with ministries at the working level. The
new General Secretary of the Government and Minister of Justice
Victor Topanou is close to the Embassy, and his selection bodes well
for implementation of the Women's Justice and Empowerment Initiative
(WJEI). END COMMENT.

BROWN