DJIBOUTI CABINET RESHUFFLE: EIGHT NEW FACES

UNCLAS DJIBOUTI 000295 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR AF/E AND INR/AA LONDON, PARIS, ROME FOR AFRICA WATCHER CJTF-HOA FOR POLAD E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PINR DJ SUBJECT: DJIBOUTI CABINET RESHUFFLE: EIGHT NEW FACES REF: DJIBOUTI 145 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: In a shuffle widely anticipated since Djibouti's February 8 legislative elections (reftel), President Omar Ismail Guelleh named a new cabinet today. The announcement followed the pro forma resignation of Prime Minister Deleita Mohamed Deleita on March 25, and his reappointment barely twenty-four hours later on March 26. While the new cabinet includes eight new ministers (out of a total of twenty),many key posts--including Prime Minister, Foreign Affairs, Defense, Health, and Education--remain constant. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) Eight new ministers were announced on national state-run radio the afternoon of March 27. One position, the Secretary of State to the Prime Minister, in charge of SIPDIS National Solidarity, is a newly created post: --Minister for the Promotion of Women: Nimo Boulhan Houssein --Minister of Islamic Affairs: Hamoud Abdi Sultan --Minister of Labor: Moussa Ahmed Hassan --Minister of Youth, Sport, Leisure, and Tourism: Hasna Barkat Daoud --Minister of Transport and Equipment: Ali Hassan Bahdon --Minister of Energy and Natural Resources: Moussa Bouh Odowa --Minister-Delegate to the Minister of Foreign Affairs in charge of International Cooperation: Ahmed Ali Silay --Secretary of State to the Prime Minister, in charge of National Solidarity: Mohamed Ahmed Awaleh ¶3. (SBU) Three replaced ministers were named to non-cabinet posts: --Mogueh Dirir Samatar, former Minister of Islamic Affairs, was named Advisor to the President --Hawa Ahmed Youssouf, former Minister-Delegate to the Minister of Foreign Affairs in charge of International Cooperation, was named advisor to the Prime Minister (NOTE: Hawa Ahmed Youssouf was an unsuccessful candidate to replace Julia Dolly Joiner of Gambia as African Union Commissioner for Political Affairs in January 2008. END NOTE.) --Ismail Ibrahim Houmed, former Minister of Transport, was named Ambassador Plenipotentiary ¶4. (SBU) COMMENT: While the number of women in the cabinet remains constant at two, there are now two female ministers instead of one female minister and one female minister-delegate. While the reshuffle is not radical, the new appointees seem generally both younger and more technocratic than their predecessors. END COMMENT. WONG