Benin: Romuald Wadagni completes his team with eight nominations for the presidency.

President Romuald Wadagni signed seven appointment decrees on Tuesday, May 26, two days after his inauguration, outlining the structure of his presidential cabinet. José Didier Tonato, former minister of living environment for ten years under Patrice Talon, is appointed advisor for Infrastructures. Wilfried Léandre Houngbédji, spokesperson for Talon’s government since 2016, is promoted to minister and spokesperson for the government, a position elevated to a ministerial level for the first time. Salimane Karimou, former minister for Early Childhood and Primary Education from 2016 to 2026, becomes advisor for Education.

The four other appointments complete the operational structure of the presidency. Fulgence Primaël Gbèkè is named chief of staff to the President of the Republic. Paulette Hountondji Sopoh becomes the personal secretary to the Head of State. Hermann Orou Takou is appointed deputy secretary-general of the presidency. Maximilien Claude Cocou Olympio heads the legal department and becomes the legal advisor to the president. Alfred Affoyon is appointed director of the Analysis and Investigation Bureau.

The choice to directly attach three former Talon ministers (Tonato, Houngbédji, and Karimou) to the presidential cabinet confirms Wadagni’s logic of continuity, having himself been Talon’s Minister of Finance from 2016 to 2026 before being elected in the presidential elections of April 2026.

Tonato and Karimou, from ministers to advisors

The appointment of José Didier Tonato as advisor for Infrastructures is viewed by observers of Beninese politics as a way to keep the expertise of an architect-urban planner, who has led the country’s largest projects for a decade, within the direct presidential orbit, while delegating the operational portfolio to Georges Alé. His role as advisor will allow him to support ongoing major projects, particularly the remaining phases of the renovation program for vulnerable neighborhoods and transport infrastructures, without taking on daily ministerial responsibility.

Salimane Karimou was one of Talon’s most enduring ministers, retained in Early Childhood and Primary Education during the transition to a second term in 2021. A trained education inspector from Sakété in the Plateau department, he had previously been secretary-general of the Ministry of Preschool and Primary Education and director of the national media library for education. Under his tenure, Benin achieved the “one classroom, one teacher” ratio in primary education, an objective presented as a structural achievement of Talon’s regime. His transition to an advisory role grants him influence over educational policies without direct administrative responsibility.

Houngbédji, spokesperson promoted to minister

The appointment of Wilfried Léandre Houngbédji as the minister and spokesperson for the government represents a break from the Talon configuration, where the spokesperson, despite constant media visibility, was not a member of the government. He has held this function since 2016, becoming one of the most recognized faces of official Beninese communication, familiar with the weekly press conferences of the Council of Ministers. The promotion of the position to ministerial rank gives him greater formal authority in relations with other government members and in coordinating public communication.

The composition of the presidential cabinet, combined with the list of the government published on May 24, confirms the philosophy displayed by Wadagni since his campaign: to rely on tested frameworks of the state apparatus while appointing new technical profiles to sectoral positions.