VZCZCXRO6564
PP RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHCO #1153 3261312
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 221312Z NOV 06
FM AMEMBASSY COTONOU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9023
INFO RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP PRIORITY
RHMFISS/COMUSNAVEUR NAPLES IT
RUCOWCA/COGARD MIO EUROPE ROTTERDAM NL
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUCOCGA/COMLANTAREA COGARD PORTSMOUTH VA
RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHFR/AQMBASSY PARIS 1008
RUEHKL/AMEMBASSY KUALA LUMPUR 0002

UNCLAS COTONOU 001153 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/W (DBANKS) 
PARIS FOR D'ELIA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EWWY PGOV PREL PINR BN
SUBJECT: BENIN: PRESIDENT YAYI FIRES TRANSPORT AND PORTS MINISTER 
 
REF: (A) COTONOU 944; (B) COTONOU 1149; (C) COTONOU 782 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY: On November 20, President Yayi dismissed the 
Minister for Transports, Public Works and Urban Development, Mr. 
Alexandre Dossou Kpedetin. At the same time he split the portfolio 
into two, bringing the total number of ministers to 23.  The new 
Minister of Public Works and Transport is Richard Senou, and the new 
Minister for Urban Development and Social Housing is Francois 
Noudegbessi.  This is the second minister fired by President Yayi 
since he took office in April 2006. END SUMMARY 
 
¶2. (SBU) Local press reports indicate that Mr. Dossou Kpedetin was 
dismissed because he had mishandled an important infrastructure 
project related to new housing construction funded by a wealthy 
Malaysian businessman. Post had dealt frequently with Minister 
Dossou, since the Port of Cotonou is a major focus of Millennium 
Challenge Account activity. Minister Dossou also was involved in 
recent visits to Benin by the US Coast Guard on ISPS standards (REF 
A) and the Nov. 13-15 conference on Maritime Safety and Security in 
the Gulf of Guinea (REF B).  In our interactions, Minister Dossou 
had appeared competent, attempting several reforms to improve 
operations at the Port, although for several of these reforms there 
was still considerable more improvement needed.  From conversations 
with President Yayi just after his inauguration, it appeared that 
Dossou was among a handful of ministers who Yayi did not know 
particularly well, but who he had appointed because they came 
well-recommended. 
 
¶3. (U) Dossou is the second minister (out of twenty-two ministerial 
positions) dismissed by President Yayi during his seven months in 
office.  In August 2006, Yayi fired Collette Houeto, Minister of 
Primary and Secondary Education, in a dispute over senior 
appointments in her ministry (REF C). 
 
¶4. (U) The presidential decree announcing the dismissal also split 
the Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Urban Development into 
two separate ministries and designated new ministers for both.  Mr. 
Frangois Noudegbessi as Minister of Urban Development and Social 
Housing, and Mr. Richard Mahougnon Senou as Minister of Public Works 
and Transports. This change raises the number of ministries in 
Yayi's government to 23. 
 
¶5. (U) BIO NOTES ON NOUDEGBESSI: Prior to his appointment, Mr. 
Noudegbessi was a senior civil servant who served as the Chief of 
Staff at the Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Urban 
Development under Mr. Dossou.  His wife is an FSN who works in the 
Embassy's MCC office.  His appointment would seem to indicate that 
the President's displeasure was targeted at Dossou personally, 
rather than overall dissatisfaction with the functioning of the 
Ministry. 
 
¶6. (U) BIO NOTES ON SENOU:  Mr. Senou, the new Transport Minister, 
who will now oversee the Port, had been serving as a Special Advisor 
for economic affairs (Charge de Mission) in President Yayi's office 
prior to his appointment as minister.  Previously, he had worked as 
Auditor and Financial Analyst for the World Bank. He was one of the 
twenty-six candidates for president in the first round of the March 
2006 election, finishing fourteenth.  He then endorsed Boni Yayi in 
the run-off. 
 
BROWN