Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07BAMAKO170
2007-02-16 11:50:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Bamako
Cable title:  

INTERNAL CORRUPTION REPORT TARGETS OPPOSITION

Tags:  PREL PGOV EFIN ECON ML 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO0038
RR RUEHPA
DE RUEHBP #0170/01 0471150
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 161150Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY BAMAKO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6894
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAMAKO 000170 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/16/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV EFIN ECON ML
SUBJECT: INTERNAL CORRUPTION REPORT TARGETS OPPOSITION
CANDIDATE

REF: A. 06 BAMAKO 01363


B. 06 BAMAKO 01113

C. BAMAKO 00122

D. 06 BAMAKO 00665

Classified By: Political officer Aaron Sampson for reasons 1.4(b) and (
d)
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAMAKO 000170

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/16/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV EFIN ECON ML
SUBJECT: INTERNAL CORRUPTION REPORT TARGETS OPPOSITION
CANDIDATE

REF: A. 06 BAMAKO 01363


B. 06 BAMAKO 01113

C. BAMAKO 00122

D. 06 BAMAKO 00665

Classified By: Political officer Aaron Sampson for reasons 1.4(b) and (
d)

1.(C) Summary: On February 7 the Presidency's Office of
Administrative Controls (CASCA) released its annual report on
the use of government funds. The 178 page report reveals
sweeping administrative and fiscal irregularities at every
level of the GOM - from Ministries down to distant municipal
officials. CASCA referred 48 of the 159 cases it audited to
the GOM's public prosecutor for legal proceedings, including
that of likely presidential candidate Tiebile Drame. On
February 13, Drame and his Party for National Renewal
(PARENA) called for the CASCA's dissolution and accused it of
advancing the political vendettas of President Amadou Toumani
Toure (ATT). The GOM's willingness to investigate and
release instances of government corruption - whether through
the CASCA or the independent Auditor General's office - is
welcome, but none of the CASCA's previous reports have
produced any corruption convictions. There is no indication
that this year's report will be taken any more seriously.
This is small consolation for Drame, however, as the CASCA's
allegations will likely dog his entire presidential campaign
- a fact undoubtedly not lost on ATT. End Summary.

--------------
Corruption, Corruption and More Corruption
--------------

2.(U) On February 7 the Office of Administrative Controls
(CASCA),which falls within the office of the Presidency,
issued its annual report on government corruption. ATT
created the CASCA in 2003 to investigate cases of corruption
within the GOM after a 2001 World Bank report noted that
Mali's so-called "Fight Against Corruption" had yet to
produce any major corruption investigations. Although the
CASCA began issuing reports in 2003, its findings have
yielded no corruption convictions. This detail has not,
however, dissuaded the CASCA from its mission of uncovering

government fraud, waste and abuse.

3.(U) The CASCA's 2005/2006 report reveals fiscal hijinks in
159 different offices that received government funds. The
report does not say whether the CASCA investigated offices
other than those cited for administrative irregularities.
Major incidents included:

- the Malian Chamber of Industry and Commerce (CCIM). The
CASCA cited 34 irregularities at the CCIM, including 2
million USD in payments to unidentified "beneficiaries" and
several hundred thousand dollars worth of payments, without
bills or written receipts, to unknown companies, individuals
and landlords. The CASCA forwarded the case of the CCIM,
which is in the midst of a bitter and drawn-out battle over
botched elections for the CCIM presidency (ref A),to the
public prosecutor.

- the Ministry of State Lands for inability to justify nearly
2 million USD in litigation fees used to defend the GOM
against an unidentified group of hotel owners, to recover an
unspecified gift from Japan, and to defend the government
against an anonymous business.

- the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) for USD 230,000 in
unjustified advances and USD 120,000 worth of unjustified
perdiem to MFA personnel.

- the Reinsertion program for former Tuareg combatants
(CAR-NORD). CASCA discovered that CAR-NORD recovered only 12
percent of the 2.6 million USD spent on micro-finance
projects for 9,088 former combatants from 2001 to 2005. The
repayment rate for larger projects totaling 2 million USD was
under 3 percent. In addition, CAR-NORD officials were unable
to provide documentation to justify USD 400,000 spent on
"meetings" and issued what amounts to roughly 35 gallons of
fuel per day, from 2001 to 2005, to one vehicle belonging to
the president of Mali's National Re-insertion Commission.

- the Malian Embassy in Berlin for an inability to account
for several hundred thousand dollars worth of expenditures
and missing receipts. CASCA referred this case to the
judiciary.

- the Ministry of Agriculture for misuse of funds intended to
combat the 2004 invasion of locusts. The CASCA reported
that, in one instance, the Agriculture Ministry paid 3.2
million USD for pesticides but received only one order valued
at 1.6 million USD. This case was referred to the judiciary.

BAMAKO 00000170 002 OF 002



--------------
Drame and France-Africa-Gate
--------------

4.(U) The most politically explosive section of the CASCA's
report dealt with former Foreign Minister and likely
presidential candidate Tiebile Drame's stewardship of the
2005 France-Africa Summit in Bamako. When the Summit ended
in December 2005, the GOM, France and other international
partners hailed Drame's efforts as a resounding success.
Nine months later, Drame found himself facing allegations of
misuse of government funds. Drame and his supporters argued
that the allegations were concocted by ATT to weaken a
potential presidential rival. To substantiate this claim,
Drame produced two competing reports by the GOM evaluating
his management of the Summit. The first report lauded his
efforts. In the second report, positive references to
Drame's management were replaced with accusations of fraud
and wrongdoing (refs B and C).

5.(U) Although the CASCA's audit of Drame and the
France-Africa Summit produced nothing new, it marked the
first official attempt by an office within the Presidency to
cast Drame as corrupt. The CASCA accused Drame of leaving in
his wake approximately 1.2 million USD in unauthorized
expenditures, 700,000 USD worth of unjustified payments, more
than 4 million USD in unpaid bills and roughly 70,000 USD in
missing office equipment. On February 13 PARENA issued a
highly compelling point-by-point rebuttal in Drame's defense,
noting that other entities within the GOM were responsible
for the expenditures and bills cited by the CASCA. "The
practices of the CASCA," said a PARENA spokesperson, "recall
sinister memories of the political police and constitute a
form of political blackmail and humiliation." PARENA
concluded its statement with a call for the CASCA's
dissolution and increased support for the independent Auditor
General's office.

-------------- --
Comment: Presidential Politics and Dirty Tricks
-------------- --

6.(C) CASCA's willingness to publicly release a sweeping
indictment of government fiscal and administrative
accountability is encouraging, but CASCA's status as an
office within the Presidency raises serious questions about
its political independence. None of the 159 cases included
in the 2005/2006 report focused on the Presidency. The
absence of any convictions from previous CASCA findings fuels
suspicion that the CASCA's annual reports are more exercises
in political score-settling than serious corruption busting.
The allegations against Tiebile Drame would have carried much
more weight had they emanated from the office of the Auditor
General (ref D). Given the CASCA's ties to the Presidency,
the existence of dueling reports on Drame's oversight of the
Summit, and the apparent flimsiness of the allegations
against him, the current scandal appears to be pay-back for
Drame's refusal to endorse ATT and a broadside from the GOM
intended to hobble Drame's presidential campaign.
McCulley