VZCZCXRO8920
RR RUEHPA
DE RUEHRY #0050/01 0161310
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
R 161310Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY CONAKRY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3365
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE

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