The French magazine Jeune Afrique says the October 10 cabinet reshuffle carried out by Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani is the broadest since he took office in August 2019, bringing around ten new ministers into government.
In an article by journalist Justine Spiegel published on October 14, the magazine links the dismissal of the energy minister to the findings of the commission of inquiry into the fire at two power stations of the national electricity company SOMELEC in Nouakchott on August 21 and 22. He was replaced by Mohamed Ould Abdel Fettah, former High Commissioner of the Senegal River Basin Development Organisation (OMVS).
According to Jeune Afrique, the reshuffle went beyond the electricity crisis by removing defence minister Hanena Ould Sidi and interior minister Mohamed Ahmed Ould Mohamed Lemine, both regarded as influential figures in the system and mentioned in speculation about who could succeed Ghazouani when his second term ends in 2029.
The journalist sees the departures as the president asserting his authority within the system, while in her reading Prime Minister Mokhtar Ould Djay emerged strengthened. The magazine notes that Ghazouani has not taken a clear position on a third term or explicitly committed to respecting the constitutional limits, leaving speculation about his succession wide open.
