DADIS CAMARA APPOINTS CABINET MINISTERS

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 CONAKRY 000050 SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/15/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL BIOS GV SUBJECT: DADIS CAMARA APPOINTS CABINET MINISTERS REF: A. 08 CONAKRY 811 ¶B. 08 CONAKRY 302 ¶C. CONAKRY 41 Classified By: ECONOFF T. SCOTT BROWN FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D) ¶1. (U) On January 14, a military spokesperson announced a presidential decree appointing 29 cabinet ministers. Under the order, some ministers will serve directly under the prime minister, while others will bypass the PM and answer only to the president. Preliminary information on the cabinet members is provided in this cable. Additional information will be sent in as it becomes available. -------------- GENERAL INFORMATION -------------- ¶2. (U) The 29 members named to the new cabinet include: - 10 military officers, fewer than some observers expected - 3 women - 6 Soussou, 6 Puehl, 6 Malinke, and 6 Forestier and 4 of other ethnicities - 2 holdovers from the Soaure government -------------- MINISTERS UNDER THE PRESIDENT -------------- ¶3. (U) Minister of Security - General Mamadouba Toto Camara. Camara was previously appointed to this position (reftel A). He remains a member of the CNDD. ¶4. (U) Minister of Defence - General Sekouba Konate. Konate was previously appointed to this position (reftel A). He remains a member of the CNDD. ¶5. (C) Minister Secretary General of the Presidency - Major Keletigui Faro. Faro is a Malinke from Kissidougou in Upper Guinea and a CNDD member. Faro was in the same promotion as Dadis Camara (90th) and the two are reportedly close. Faro is a signal officer by training and was in charge of communications at the Ministry of Defense. He served as part of a U.N. peacekeeping mission to Sierra Leone. He is reputed to be influential with Dadis Camara. ¶6. (C) Minister of Finance and Economics of the Presidency - Captain Mamadou Sande. Previously in the military pay, logistics, and personnel division of the army, Sande was a military economist in charge of budgetary preparation for the Guinean army. Young with a background in finance but no other previous experience, he will report directly to the president, bypassing the prime minister. ¶7. (C) Secretary of State at the Presidency for Special Services, Anti-Narcotics, and Organized Banditry - Captain Moussa Diokoro Camara. A Forestier, Camara served as a secretary in the operations office at the Ministry of Defense prior to his appointment. He reportedly grew up with Dadis Camara and the two are said to be close. Camara is a Gendarme who has participated on two French military exchanges, and is a graduate of the University of Conakry. ¶8. (U) Minister of State for Construction and Public Land Management - Boubacar Barry. Barry was previously appointed to this position. -------------- MINISTERS UNDER THE PRIME MINISTER -------------- ¶9. (U) Minister of Foreign Affairs - Alexandre Cece Loua. A career diplomat, Loua is a Forestier and is approximately 55 years old. He has held a variety of positions at the MFA, including Director of Legal and Consular Affairs in the late 1990s, and has served as Ambassador to Germany, South Africa, and several Eastern European nations. ¶10. (C) Minister of Justice - Lieutentat Colonel Siba Nolamou. Nolamou is a Forestier and a career soldier. He has participated in numerous military exchanges and is a graduate of the French Saint Cyr military academy. A contact believes that Nolamou is the kind of person who "will not like letting go of power once he has it." In private, Nolamou is reportedly a proponent of holding elections at the end of 2010. Nolamou is said to be very close to Dadis Camara. CONAKRY 00000050 002 OF 003 ¶11. (SBU) Minister of Information and Culture - Justin Morel Junior. Morel is a Soussou from Maritime Guinea. A journalist by profession, he joined the national radio station RTG after university studies in Guinea, eventually rising to the position of Director General in the early 1990s. Morel is very highly regarded by Guinean society and popular among youths across ethnicities for his popular cultural programs that he produced for Guinean television. He earned the respect of many by calling for equal television time for all political parties, a stance for which he was later fired. After working for UNICEF in the Democratic Republic of Congo for several years, he joined the Kouyate government as Minister of Telecommunications in 2007, and was dismissed by President Conte in 2008 a few months before Kouyate himself was sacked. Morel is also an alumnus of the International Visitor's (IV) from 1983, and is a long-time contact of the Embassy PAS. ¶12. (U) Minister of Telecommunications - Colonel Mathurin Bangoura. Bangoura was previously named a member of the CNDD (reftel A). ¶13. (C) Minister of Health - Colonel Abdoulaye Cherif Diaby. Diaby is a Djankaanke, an Islamic tribe that settled in Maritime Guinea. He was formerly the chief medical doctor for the Guinean Army and is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Morocco and the University of Conakry's medical school. His reputation is one of hard work and dedication to his job. Sensitive sources report that Diaby is apolitical and may have a drug abuse problem; however, sources did not report that he traffics in narcotics. ¶14. (SBU) Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development - Papa Koly Kourouma. Kourouma is a Forestier from N'Zerekore, and one of two ministers held over from the Souare government. Koly was the former manager of bankrupt airline Air Afrique before it went out of business. According to news reports, Kourouma is the "nephew" of CNDD President Dadis Camara. He has a reputation for being fair, and is reportedly a member of Jean Marie Dore's UPG opposition party. ¶15. (U) Minister of Decentralization and Development - Naby Diakite. Diakite, an ethnic Soussou, is former USAID employee and one of two ministers held over from the Souare government (reftel B). ¶16. (SBU) Minister of Primary and Secondary Education - Hadja Aisha Bah. Bah is a Puehl from Labe in Middle Guinea and served as a minister with the same portfolio for seven years in the 1990s. She is widely regarded as one of the more successful ministers of education, evidenced by the fact that many groups of educators rallied to her support during her first tenure when they thought she might be sacked. In that position, she gained a reputation rigor and honesty managing education projects, and built many new schools. Prior to her appointment, she served as a director at UNESCO in charge of women's education. Bah's daughter is an alumna of the IV program. ¶17. (U) Minister of Agriculture - Abdourahmane Sano. Sano is a Malinke and managing director of a firm that specializes in organizing trade shows and exhibitions. He is also the president of an association of industry and business owners in Guinea, the Movement d'Entreprise de Guinee. In the past, he has been a reliable contact for the Embassy. ¶18. (U) Minister of Cooperation and African Integration - Abdoul Aziz Bah. Brother of UPR opposition leader Ousmane Bah, Abdoul Aziz Bah is a career diplomat and Puehl from Middle Guinea. He served at the Guinean Embassy in Washington, D.C. in the late 1990s. Thereafter, he was Director of Protocol for the Ministry, and cabinet chief for the Ministry of Cooperation. ¶19. (U) Minister of Labor - Dr. Alpha Diallo. Diallo is a Puehl from Middle Guinea and a career civil servant from Guinea's Central Bank, where he was Advisor to the Central Bank Governor. Previously, he served as Director of Economic and Monetary Affairs. He also worked at the West African Monetary Institute in Accra, Ghana. ¶20. (U) Minister of Transport - Mamadi Kaba. Kaba is a Malinke career civil servant from Dabola in Upper Guinea who has occupied several positions at the Ministry of Transport in the past, including Director of Civil Aviation and the Air Navigation Agency. In the past, he has been a reliable contact for the Embassy. CONAKRY 00000050 003 OF 003 ¶21. (U) Minister of Fisheries - Raymond Ounouted. Ounouted is a Forestier from Koundara in Guinea's Forest Region. He graduated from the University of Conakry with a degree in electrical engineering and was a member of the 90th Promotion, the same as Dadis Camara. After additional training in Belgium and Russia, Ounouted returned to Guinea and worked for French oil company Total. ¶22. (C) Minister of Youth - Colonel Fodeba Toure. A Malinke from Upper Guinea, Toure was previously commander of the Red Beret presidential guard force. His father was a minister during the Sekou Toure regime who was executed in the 1980s. Toure studied in Germany and is a graduate of the German Airborne course. He has is reputedly shy and competent. Reportedly, he earned commend of the Red Berets due to his physical strength and as compensation of the loss of his father. ¶23. (C) Minister of Commerce - Lieutenant Colonel Mamadou Korka Diallo. Diallo is a Puehl career military officer and CNDD member. Previously, Diallo was the head of military pay, logistics, and personnel division in the Guinean military, and assigned Dadis Camara as head of fuel provisioning for the army. During the military mutiny of 2008, mutineers saw him as responsible for fraud and mismanagement at the ministry and shot him in the arm as he was driving past the airport. In the past, he participated in many civilian and military exchanges in France. ¶24. (SBU) State Secretary for Public Works - Mamadi Kallo. Kallo is a Puehl from Middle Guinea, and previously served in the Ministry for Urban Development and Housing. Before that, he was a public official charged with overseeing the sale of public lands near Labe, where he gained a reputation for fair pricing. ¶25. (U) Mininster of Planning and Promotion of the Private Sector - Mamadouba Max Bangoura. Bangoura was previously secretary general at the Ministry of African Integration. ¶26. (U) Minister of Mines and Energy - Mahmoud Thiam. Thiam was previously a vice president at l'Union des Banques Suisses (UBS) in New York. ¶27. (U) Minister of Territorial Administration and Political Affairs (MATAP) - Dr. Frederic Kolie. Kolie was previously a lawyer in Germany. ¶28. (U) Minister of University Education and Research - Dr. Alpha Kabine Camara. Camara was previously a university professor and medical chief at Donka National Hospital. ¶29. (U) Minister of Tourism - Mamadi Kaba. Kaba was previously Director General of the Air Navigation Agency. ¶30. (U) Minister of Audits, Transparency, and Good Governance - Joseph Kandouno. Kandouno was previously National Deputy Director of Public Debts. ¶31. (U) Minister for the Promotion of Women and Children - Hadja Makoura Sylla. Sylla was previously cabinet chief at the Ministry of Social Affairs. ¶32. (S) COMMENT. Sensitive sources report that, in the days before the announcement of this cabinet, Dadis Camara had rejected PM Komara's initial list of appointees, saying that it contained too many Malinkes. These appointees are clearly the choice of Dadis Camara. Many spent time in Germany--as did Dadis--or are close friends or colleagues of the CNDD President. While outside observers regard the cabinet as a whole as largely competent, many owe their jobs to their connections with the president, and might be left with little room to maneuver should a conflict between professional duty and personal loyalty arise. ¶33. (S) COMMENT CONTINUED. By organizing the Finance Ministry under the presidency, Dadis Camara seems to be further consolidating fiscal power in military hands, especially considering that he also recently appointed a CNDD member as number two at Customs (reftel C). Appointing such an inexperienced officer to lead Finance may also cast doubt on Guinea's hopes for rapid completion of the HIPC debt relief process. END COMMENT. RASPOLIC