Five days after the dissolution of the old government, President Macky Sall has appointed a new one. Prime Minister Amadou Ba, who is also a presidential candidate, said it was a government of continuity.

According to reports from Dakar, off the 39 ministers in the new government, only six are joining the team responsible for taking Senegal to the elections next February. Among the new appointees are El Hadji Omar Youm, who was until now president of the parliamentary group of the ruling coalition. He has been appointed as minister of the armed forces.

A new ministry has been created dedicated to the development of the railway system. This is a priority of the outgoing President Macky Sall, according to Ba, insisting in particular on the restoration of the railway line to the town of Tambakunda on the axis which leads to Bamako.

Most of the ministers were already in the previous government, but some changes have been made for the key ministries. Aïssata Tall Sall, former minister of foreign affairs, exchanged her portfolio with that of Isamaïla Madior Fall, previously at justice.

The former minister of the interior, Antoine Diome, becomes minister of oil, thus handing over his portfolio to the former minister of defence, Sidiki Kaba. Of the 39 members, only 6 are women.

As it stands, it seems Amadou Ba is betting on continuity and the absence of change for a government whose main mission will be to organize the presidential election and to make the Senegalese want to vote for his candidacy.

Translated from  RFI by Allafrica's Michael Tantoh