Benin names new government

COTONOU – Benin President Thomas Boni Yayi on Sunday named a new government after sacking his entire cabinet in part over concerns of some members’ alleged links to a businessman accused of trying to poison him.

Yayi named a 26-member team, the same number of posts as the last government in the west African nation, and opted not to appoint a prime minister, a presidency statement said.

There had been disagreements between Yayi and previous prime minister Pascal Koukpaki and he will not be part of the new team.

Koukpaki and another member of the government were suspected of being close to the businessman charged with the alleged poison plot, Patrice Talon, a presidential advisor said on condition of anonymity.

There are no opposition politicians in the new government, which includes 13 former members and 13 new entrants.

“It is a government of men and women trusted by the president, all members of the presidential majority,” Irene Agossa, head of one of the political parties allied to the president, told AFP.

Yayi is currently in his second term after winning re-election in 2011 polls in the nation of some nine million people.

The poison plot allegations made public in October have caused a political storm.

Some see the accusations as a way for Yayi to rid himself of political enemies, while others argue Talon was seeking revenge against a leader clamping down on corruption. – Nampa-AFP