According to our sources, President Alassane Ouattara is leaning towards Hamed Bakayoko rather than Patrick Achi, currently the secretary general of the presidency. The defence minister, who had effectively acted as interim prime minister for Amadou Gon Coulibaly (AGC) since May, after being hospitalised in France, was considered to be the legitimate choice for prime minister.
READ MORE Côte d’Ivoire: Why Prime Minister Coulibaly is at hospital in France
However, after the death of Prime Minister Gon Coulibaly on 8 July, followed by the resignation of the vice-president, Daniel Kablan Duncan, soon after, the Ivorian head of state is not yet ready to offend his close collaborator.
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READ MORE Côte d’Ivoire: Vice-President Duncan resigns, days after PM’s death
According to our information, Alassane Ouattara plans to keep Patrick Achi in his post, but with expanded responsibilities, since Daniel Kablan Duncan will not be replaced in the immediate future. He would therefore become a powerful secretary general of the presidency, as was the AGC (from 2012 to 2017), before the creation of the post of vice-president.
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