In Ivory Coast, President Alassane Ouattara dismissed his Prime Minister Patrick Achi, in office since 2021, from office on Friday October 6 and announced the upcoming formation of a new government. This decision was expected, the president having informed members of the government of an upcoming reshuffle during the last council of ministers, on September 28.
Mr. Ouattara signed a decree “terminating the functions of the prime minister, head of government, as well as those of members of the government,” according to a press release read by the secretary general of the presidency, Abdourahmane Cissé. The Head of State expressed “his gratitude to Prime Minister Patrick Achi and all members of the government for their commitment to serving the nation in recent years.”
Patrick Achi was appointed in March 2021 after the death from cancer of his predecessor, Hamed Bakayoko, who himself succeeded Amadou Gon Coulibaly, who died in July 2020. He resigned in April 2022, before be returned to his post immediately during a slight reshuffle. Last month, he won a comfortable victory in local elections in his region of Mé (south).
The next reshuffle should be more important and give indications on the heavyweights on which the Rally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP, in power) is counting for the presidential election of 2025. By winning 60% of the communes and 80 % of the regions in the September elections, the RHDP promises to be the big favorite of the election. It remains to be seen who his candidate will be: Alassane Ouattara has not yet commented on whether or not he intends to run for a fourth term.
