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FM AMEMBASSY CONAKRY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0744
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CONAKRY 000244 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR GUINEA TASK FORCE, AF/W, AF/EX, CA/OCS, DS/IP/AF 
PLEASE ALSO PASS TO AID/AFR, PEACE CORPS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/26/2017 
TAGS: PGOV PINR PINS AEMR ASEC CASC GV
SUBJECT: TFGV01: LANSANA KOUYATE: GUINEA'S NEW PRIME 
MINISTER 
 
REF: CONAKRY 238 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: PolOff Jessica Davis Ba, Reason 1.4 (b,d) 
 
------------------------------ 
Conte Names New Prime Minister 
------------------------------ 
 
¶1.  (SBU) On February 26, President Lansana Conte named 
Lansana Kouyate as Guinea's new Prime Minister.  The 
announcement on the evening news was met by cheers in the 
streets and spontaneous celebrations in neighborhoods 
throughout the country.  The decree stated that former Prime 
Minister Eugene Camara was "called to other functions." 
Kouyate will arrive in Guinea today and begin the first of 
many difficult tasks ahead: assembling his new cabinet. 
 
------------------------ 
Biographical Information 
------------------------ 
 
¶2.  (C) Lansana Kouyate was born in Koba, a town about 200 km 
from Conakry in the Lower Guinea Region.  His official bio 
states his year of birth as 1950, although some contacts have 
suggested he is several years older.  Kouyate's mother is a 
Soussou from Conte's village; his father is a Malinke of the 
lower griot caste.  Kouyate is a respected diplomat and 
technocrat with significant international experience.  He has 
not worked in Guinea however, for more than 20 years.  He has 
been tapped before to serve as Prime Minister but has always 
rejected the offer.  We understand Kouyate's acceptance of 
the Prime Minister position this time was predicated on his 
designation as Head of Government. 
¶3.  (U) Prior to his appointment, Kouyate was the Special 
Representative of "la Francophonie," working on elections and 
transparency issues from Abidjan.  Previously, he served as 
ECOWAS Executive Secretary from 1997 until Chambas assumed 
this position in 2002.  Kouyate was U.N. Assistant Secretary 
General for Political Affairs focusing on West African issues 
between 1994 and 1997.  He has also been Vice President of 
the U.N. Economic and Social Council and was U.N. special 
representative on Somalia from 1993 to 1994.  A career 
diplomat since 1985, Kouyate was Guinea's Permanent 
Representative to the United Nations in New York in 1992-93 
and also served as Guinea's ambassador to Egypt, Sudan, 
Turkey, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. 
 
¶4.  (U) Kouyate studied at the National School of 
Administration at the University of Conakry and began his 
career in the mid 1970s in various mid-level administrative 
positions within the government.  Between 1982 and 1983, 
Kouyate was appointed Vice Director General of an 
agricultural development project financed by USAID, the 
African Development Bank, and the UN Fund for Agricultural 
Development.  Kouyate is the author of two books, 
"International Financing for State Enterprises in Guinea; 
Problems and Perspectives" and "The End of the Cold War and 
its Impact on Third World Countries."  He is married and has 
three children. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶5.  (C) Kouyate's diplomatic skills and high-level 
international contacts and experience will stand him in good 
stead on the technical front as he faces Guinea's economic 
and structural problems.  The larger challenges will be 
political, however.  Authoritarian regimes do not die easily. 
 Members of old regime have made no pronouncements since last 
Friday.  They must be licking their wounds; we fear they are 
also planning their revenge/come-back.  Kouyate's immediate 
challenge is to form a viable government of broad national 
consensus.  If the new government is too open to newcomers, 
then the hard-liners will surge against it.  If it is not 
open enough to newcomers, then the people will return to the 
street.  This will be a delicate balancing act for Kouyate. 
 
¶6.  (C) To bring Guinea within reach of a healthier financial 
future, Kouyate will have to implement steps likely to be 
unpopular, to say the least, with the very population who 
have jubilantly greeted his appointment today.  Moreover, as 
a lower-caste individual with family ties to Conte and no 
recent experience negotiating a tricky clan-based terrain, 
Kouyate offers several pressure points to those who like the 
old ways best.  All will be trying to get their men (or 
 
CONAKRY 00000244  002 OF 002 
 
 
women) into positions of influence without regard for 
Guinea's best interests.  And many will have direct access to 
Conte, the real locus of Guinea's plight and the man who can 
still stop Kouyate with a couple of words: "You're fired." 
MCDONALD