GOB PERSISTS AGAINST CORRPUTION AT STATE ELECTRICITY

UNCLAS COTONOU 000888 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/W (DBANKS) PARIS FOR D'ELIA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV ENRG BN SUBJECT: GOB PERSISTS AGAINST CORRPUTION AT STATE ELECTRICITY COMPANY REF: COTONOU 477 ¶1. (U) Summary. The GOB's State Audit Office (IGE) unveiled a report detailing widespread corruption and mismanagment at the Benin Electric Energy Corporation (SBEE),Benin's state-owned electricity company, during a Council of Ministers' meeting on November 10, ¶2007. The allegations of corruption extend to 18 Beninese officials, including two former Executive Directors of the Benin Electric Energy Corporation (SBEE) who now sit in the National Assembly, and the former Minister of Mines, Energy and Water Resources under the Kerekou regime. President Yayi now must ask the National Assembly to lift the two accused deputies' immunity. In spite of President Yayi's known commitment to cracking down on corruption, critics said that there is little chance the Assembly will lift its members' immunity given the resulting implications for the rest of the Assembly. End Summary. ¶2. (U) According to the IGE's report, which covered the period between January 2004 and July 2007, 18 officials from the Ministry of Mines, Energy and Water Resources, the Public Procurement division, SBEE and two notaries were involved in corruption, including financial and administrative mismanagement, illegal awards of public procurement contracts, illegal transfers of money, improper payments, over billing customers and bribery. Most strikingly, the report concluded that corruption extended to the highest levels of the SBEE and the GOB. The report accused Kamarou Fassassi, former Minister of Mines, Energy and Water Resources under President Kerekou, Celestine Adjanohoun and Luc Da Matha Santana (also spelled Sant'Ana),former executive directors of SBEE of criminal acts and mismanagement of the SBEE which led to Benin's energy crisis. 4.(U) Adjanohoun and Santanta are both deputies in the National Assembly and members of President Yayi's political movement, Force Cowry for an Emerging Benin (FCBE). They both benefit from immunity from any prosecution while serving as deputies. Consequently, the Council of Ministers recommended that President Yayi request the National Assembly lift Adjanohoun and Santana's immunity so that a prosecutor may question them. Fassassi, as a former minister, must be tried before Benin's High Court of Justice after the consent of the National Assembly. If the National Assembly approves the decision, Fassassi will be the second former minister to be prosecuted by the High Court of Justice following Alain Adihou, the former Minister of Institutional Relations, who has been imprisoned since last year. ¶4. (U) Either of these actions requires supermajorities in the National Assembly. Lifting a deputy's immunity requires the assent of three-quarters of the deputies. A two-thirds majority is required to bring a former minister before the High Court of Justice. As President Yayi's FCBE has 46 out of 83 seats in the National Assembly, he will need to work with other parties to bring these individuals to justice. ¶6. (U) This is President Yayi's second request to the National Assembly to lift Adjanohoun and Santana's immunity (Reftel). He asked the National Assembly earlier this year to lift their immunity to allow the IGE to question them. His request was rejected by the National Assembly at that time on procedural grounds. Now, following the IGE report, the President believes he is on firmer ground with his request. Many public commentators doubt the Assembly will change its opinion now as it would set a precedent which could expose any deputy to prosecution. The lack of well-defined procedures to lift immunity could allow the Assembly to again cite procedural irregularities in a decision to not lift Adjanohoun and Santana's immunity. ¶7. (SBU) Comment: President Yayi's decision to move against Adjanohoun and Santana, deputies in his alliance, and Fassassi, who was the first political leader to endorse him in the presidential election run-off, illustrates his commitment to fight corruption. These moves also go some way torward putting to rest a perception which was spreading in Cotonou that President Yayi's allies were exempt from criticism. It does remain doubtful, in light of the Assembly's prior refusal to lift immunity, that Adjanohou, Santanta, and Fassassi will face justice in the near future. End Comment. BROWN