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