SENATOR FEINGOLD TALKS ABOUT ANTI-CORRUPTION WITH

UNCLAS NDJAMENA 000073

SIPDIS


SENSITIVE

DEPARTMENT FOR AF, AF/C, EB, AND H FOR CALLARD; LONDON AND
PARIS FOR AFRICAWATCHERS; TREASURY FOR OTA; ENERGY FOR
GEORGE PERSON AND CAROLYN GAY

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM EPET ECON CD VIP
SUBJECT: SENATOR FEINGOLD TALKS ABOUT ANTI-CORRUPTION WITH
CHADIAN OFFICIALS

REF: A. NDJAMENA 68


B. NDJAMENA 72


1. (SBU) Summary: Senator Russell Feingold met with Mariam
Ali, the newly-appointed Minister of Public Control and
Ethics who also serves as an inspector general for government
operations, and members of the Oil Revenue Management College
to discuss transparency measures and mechanisms to control
corruption on January 13. Feingold heard about Ali's efforts
to get the newly created ministry and government
anti-corruption policies in place. According to Ali, there
is considerable support for anti-corruption measures within
the govenrment. During a luncheon with members of the
College, Feingold was told that to date, the process by which
government projects in priority sectors are reviewed is
working. Members represent various constituencies and take
their task very seriously. They emphasized the importance
of the College succeeding so that Chad can be a good example
of the benefits that oil can bring. Despite the optimism
expressed throughout the day, our Chadian contacts also
acknowledged the challenges ahead in the fight against
corruption. End Summary.

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ANTI-CORRUPTION ACTIVITIES
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2. (SBU) Senator Feingold encouraged Minister for Public
Control and Ethics Mariam Ali's efforts to strengthen the
ministry,s capacity to act as a watchdog against corruption.
Ali explained that the ministry was created six months
earlier and represents a consolidation of government
anti-corruption efforts underway since 1991. With oil
revenues now flowing into Chad, there is more urgency in the
fight against corruption in Chad, Ali said. The Government
wants to ensure that the oil revenues are properly managed
and that types of corruption that happened in the past do not
re-occur. Ali stated that it is important to show Chadians
that the Government is being vigilant.


3. (SBU) The Minister said that policy documents outlining
anti-corruption measures have already been signed and another
is now before the Council of Ministers for consideration.
Ali said that she believes that she has a high level of
support among the ministries and the full support of the
President and Prime Minister. She said that other ministers
have expressed high expectations for her ministry to root out
bad management. Ali told Feingold that there are many
competent bureaucrats throughout the government that can
assist in fighting corruption.


4. (SBU) In terms of budget transparency, Ali told Feingold
that the Oil Revenue Management College has been put in place
to oversee the oil revenues. She said that her ministry will
also monitor Government spending of the oil revenues as well,
but did not explain how her ministry will exercise oversight.
Feingold noted that Chad is near the bottom of Transparency
International,s (TI) list for corruption and that this makes
it difficult to attract international investors. She
acknowledged the problem and said that her ministry is
currently preparing a reply to a TI questionnaire.


5. (SBU) Ali noted, however, that it has taken time to
organize the new ministry. Her office is currently housed
within the Presidency, but needs space to expand. In terms
of expertise, Ali said that Chad is learning a great deal
from the anti-corruption experiences of Burkina Faso and
Benin. She is traveling to both countries for two weeks to
learn more about enhancing anti-corruption capabilities, best
practices, and procedures.


6. (SBU) Ali emphasized that in an increasingly globalized


world, corruption in one country has implications for others.
She said that Chad will review the anti-corruption efforts
of other countries and adapt them to Chadian realities. She
relayed her experience with a group of African
parliamentarians that visited Chad in December 2004. She
told the conference that corruption is responsible for many
countries losing assistance and investment. One
parliamentarian disagreed with her and said that there
actually are benefits to corruption. Ali said she was
surprised to find someone defending corruption as &good8.


7. (SBU) Feingold again expressed support for Ali in her
anti-corruption efforts. He reminded her that Kenya,s
reputation was destroyed by corruption under President Moi.
Kabaki,s election on an anti-corruption platform is helping
to improve the country,s reputation once again. Ali thanked
Feingold and Ambassador Wall for the visit and added that the
Ambassador &holds the key to my new office in his hands8.
(Comment: A reference to the Government,s interest in
acquiring a U.S. property to locate the Ministry. Ref A.
End Comment.)

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PROTECTING PETROLEUM REVENUES
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8. (SBU) Feingold received a closer look at how Chad's new
oil revenues are being monitored during a luncheon with eight
members of the Oil Revenue College and two U.S. treasury
advisors. Newly-elected College President, Lamana Abdoulaye
outlined for Feingold the College's structure and procedures
for reviewing government project proposals. When Feingold
asked why the College was created, government members
emphasized that the President Deby insisted on its creation.
According to Lamana, the President wanted to ensure that Chad
did not repeat the mistakes of Nigeria or Gabon, oil
producers where the people live in poverty but the leaders
enjoy rich lifestyles. (Comment: None of the members
mentioned that the monitoring mechanism was required by the
financial institutions as a condition of the loan. For more
information on the College's recent activity, see Ref B. End
Comment.)


9. (SBU) College members expressed satisfaction with the
projects that they have already approved and with their
relationship with the Ministries. They told Feingold that
some key Ministers were at one time members of the College.
They also said that they did not feel any undue pressure from
the Government at this point. Interestingly, the
conversation turned to other oil issues, which are outside of
the College's mandate. Chadian officials, for example, are
trying to understand if Chad is maximizing its profits from
oil production. They have demonstrated interest in how the
price of a barrel of Doba blend oil is calculated and the
point at which the oil is metered in the pipeline. In
addition, Lamana raised other technical issues which
demonstrate that College members do not fully understand the
production process and oil marketing.


10. (SBU) The College members told Feingold that they expect
the revenues from new fields to be used in the same spirit as
the current revenues, with slight adjustments for priority
sectors. College members were not sure if another College
would be created to monitor revenues from future exploration
or if the current institution would be responsible. They
expressed some concern about the workload when future
revenues are brought on line because each member already has
a full-time job in addition to their College work. Site
visits to verify that projects have been completed will be
critical to demonstrating the College's success. Several
members noted that their personal reputations are on the line
if this process fails and Chad's oil revenues are squandered


away.

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COMMENT
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11. (SBU) Ali's Ministry and the College are relatively
young in institutional terms. Key players appear well-versed
in their portfolios and determined to monitor government
activities to the best of their abilities. In the case of
the College, the work of each member reflects on their
constituencies and they emphasized the importance of making
sure that the oil revenues are properly spent. Nonetheless,
most of our interlocutors acknowledged the difficulties they
face and agreed that the fight against corruption has just
begun in Chad. Senator Feingold made it clear that he would
remain an ally in their attempts to instill transparency and
accountability in government.

WALL


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