ABIDJAN (Reuters) -Ivory Coast’s presidency on Monday said Robert Beugre Mambe, the governor of Abidjan, was appointed as prime minister, after the government was dissolved earlier this month.
President Alassane Ouattara removed Prime Minister Patrick Achi and his cabinet on Oct. 6 without explaining the motivation behind the unexpected move.
“The president of the republic asks prime minister Robert Beugre Mambe to propose a new government as soon as possible,” the presidency’s secretary general Aboudrahmane Cisse said in a statement.
Mambe, who is a close ally of Ouattara and a heavyweight in the ruling Rally of Houphouetists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP), thanked the president and asked God for the “wisdom of Solomon”, a reference to a biblical king.
A former president of the electoral commission, Mambe, 71, became the governor of the commercial capital Abidjan in 2011, where he oversaw a road-building program and organised the Francophone games.
It is not uncommon for presidents in Ivory Coast to make drastic, unexpected changes to their governments.
While the official reason behind the dissolution of government remains unclear, political analysts say Ouattara was dissatisfied with the pace of preparations for the country to host the Africa Cup of Nations football tournament in January and February next year.
Ivory Coast will hold a presidential election in 2025. Ouattara, who was reelected in 2020, has not yet said whether he will run again.
(Reporting by Loucoumane Coulibaly; writing by Hereward Holland; Editing by Alex Richardson and Jonathan Oatis)
