Cabinet reshuffle

Three ministers were dropped and two added to Cote d'Ivoire's cabinet in a reshuffle that saw the number of ministerial posts reduced from 36 to 35, the government announced in a communique issue on 10 August. The incoming ministers are Admiral Atin Oria Ambroise (Public Health) and Seri-Assia Jerome (junior minister in the Ministry of Home Affairs and Decentralisation). Those dropped from the cabinet include Pierre Kipre, replaced by Anney Kablan Norbert at the helm of the Ministry of National Education and Basic Training and Atsain Achi, replaced by Zirimba Aka Michel as Minister of Labour, Public Service and Social Security. Also removed from the cabinet is Health Minister Maurice Kakou Guikahue, whose ministry has been in the spotlight since June, when the European Union suspended aid to Cote d'Ivoire in reaction to the misuse of 18 billion CFA francs (about US$ 30 million) in assistance to the health sector. In its communique, the government said the main aims of the reshuffle included vigorously pursuing reforms aimed at achieving its programme and reducing the country's foreign debt, reinforcing its policy of rigour and good management with a view to enhancing good governance and favouring the development of the private sector and private investment. The reshuffle has also been done with a view to "constantly seeking solutions to the main problems of Ivoirian society, in particular reforms to the education system, the collection of household garbage (and) monitoring prices with due regard for the laws of the market and the rules of competition", according to the communique.