Guinea President Alpha Conde appointed several new officials to his cabinet overnight, including finance and security ministers, amid civil unrest brought about by elections last February.

Conde replaced 13 of 33 ministers, with the changes announced Sunday on state TV. He gave no official reason for the changes.

The capital Conakry and other cities were the sites of riots and protests following local elections in February that opposition leaders alleged were fraudulent and unfair. About a dozen people were killed there in violence in February and March.

Earlier this month, Conde appointed a new prime minister, Ibrahima Kassory Fofana, to replace former prime minister Mamady Youla, who resigned on May 17.

In naming Fofana, Conde had promised a “great ministerial reshuffle” to quell the civil unrest rocking the country.

Among the appointments in the reshuffle, Conde named Mamady Camara, Guinea’s former ambassador to South Africa, as the new finance minister. Alpha Ibrahima Keira, a loyalist from the regime of dictator Lansana Conte, was named security minister.

Parliamentary elections are scheduled for September.

 
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