Guinea’s president named a new government on Wednesday featuring technocrats and economists, following through on a peace deal with opponents which had ended a wave of strikes and protests against his rule.

The decree naming the new cabinet in the world’s top bauxite exporter was signed by President Lansana Conte and read by a presenter in a state television broadcast.

The broadcast included a speech by consensus Prime Minister Lansana Kouyate, a career diplomat who was appointed by Conte a month ago under an agreement with union leaders to end weeks of violence and turmoil in the West African country.

“I have formed a government team which the president has seen fit to accept, and which will immediately tackle the problems we face,” Kouyate said. He added dealing with high unemployment would be a priority.

The delay in naming the new cabinet, whose size was slashed to 22 members from 32 previously, had raised fears of a dispute between the president and the new consensus premier.

The new government represented a complete renewal of the Guinean administration, bringing in respected technocrats and economists, some with international experience.

Only the key defence ministry post went to a known Conte ally, General Arafan Camara, who had been serving as deputy chief of staff of the armed forces. Nationwide strikes and protests against Conte, a reclusive diabetic in his 70s, brought Guinea to a standstill for much of January and February. More than 120 people were killed as the security forces quelled the unrest.

Strike leaders had said Conte was no longer fit to rule and demanded he name a new head of government to manage the country’s affairs with powers to hire and fire his own ministers, a role previously assumed by the president.

In the new cabinet, the post of Economy, Finance and Planning went to Ousame Dore, resident representative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Senegal and Guinea-Bissau.

“CATASTROPHIC SITUATION”

A respected administrator, Saidou Diallo, Director of the National Social Security Fund, was allocated the newly created ministry of Economic and Financial Control, Ethics and Transparency, with the task of fighting rampant corruption.

Senior Central bank official Ahmed Kante was made Minister of Mines and Geology, another strategic post in a country which has one third of the world’s reserves of bauxite, the ore used to make aluminium.

Despite these mineral riches, most of the population live in poverty, and this has fuelled opposition against Conte, who has ruled since seizing power in a 1984 coup.

In his televised speech, Kouyate said the “catastrophic situation” demanded a break with old practices.

“Our duty is to face reality head-on, the reality of underemployment and unemployment which have reached intolerable levels,” he said. “I am aware of the urgency with which we must act,” he added.

The post of foreign minister went to lawyer Abdoul Kabele Camara, former head of the Guinea Bar Association.

Analysts say the intensity of the recent unrest which swept Guinea has betrayed the fragility of Conte’s rule.

His ill-health, revealed by periodic trips abroad for treatment, has raised fears that his sudden disappearance from the political scene could lead to even worse upheaval. Reuters