Transport Minister Replaced; ANDP Technocrat Brought Back

UNCLAS NIAMEY 000960 DEPT FOR AF/W AND EEB/TRA PLS PASS TO USAID FOR AFR/W SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV ELTN EAIR PINR NG SUBJECT: Transport Minister Replaced; ANDP Technocrat Brought Back into Cabinet ¶1. (SBU) On September 14, President Tandja, acting on the recommendation of PM Oumarou, dismissed Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Kindo Hamani. Reasons cited on the street for his dismissal include difficulties encountered by importers and transport firms in moving goods from the Port of Cotonou to Niger, recent management problems with the license plate company, and a spectacle recently in Bamako wherein Hamani's insistence that a fellow Nigerien minister be granted a business class seat despite no seats being available and not having a business class ticket held up a flight for several hours. On the same date, President Tandja appointed Amadou Nouhou as the new minister. Both ministers are members of the ruling party-affiliated Alliance Nigerienne pour la Democratie el le Progres (ANDP). ¶2. (SBU) Brief biodata on Amadou Nouhou: -- Born in 1948 in Hamdallaye, Kollo, Tillabery. -- Married; Zarma; Education: BA at the University of Clermont Ferrand, France (1969 - 1973, National Taxes School at Clermont Ferrand (1969-1971),Graduate Banking Studies diploma at ITB Paris (1979 - 1981). -- Previous positions include: a. Minister of Tourism and Handicrafts, 2004 - 2007 b. Finance Inspector, Ministry of Finance, 1998 - 2003 c. Director General of OFEDES (underground water development company),1997 - 1998 d. Head, National Treasury, 1993 - 1995 e. Member of the National Assembly, 1993 f. Deputy Secretary General for the Niger-Nigerian Joint Commission for Cooperation 1998 - 1993 g. Minister of Mines and Energy, 1987 h. Minister of Commerce, Industry, and Transport, 1985 - 1987 i. Minister of Commerce and Transport, 1983 - 1985 j. Director General of the Niger Development Bank (current SONIBANK),1976 - 1983 -- Party Affiliation: ANDP Vice President for Tillabery region; viewed as instrumental in ANDP's June 2002 decision to support the MNSD and its consequent support for President Tandja's re-election bid. WHITAKER