Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07LIBREVILLE49
2007-01-29 13:40:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Libreville
Cable title:  

GULF OF GUINEA COMMISSION SECGEN READY TO ASSUME

Tags:  PREL PGOV MASS GB TP AO 
pdf how-to read a cable
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FM AMEMBASSY LIBREVILLE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9541
INFO RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 0378
RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA 0968
RUEHKI/AMEMBASSY KINSHASA 1355
RUEHLI/AMEMBASSY LISBON 0651
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0332
RUEHLU/AMEMBASSY LUANDA 0944
RUEHNJ/AMEMBASSY NDJAMENA 0417
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0855
RUEHYD/AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE 0757
RUEHOS/AMCONSUL LAGOS 0653
RHMFISS/COMUSNAVEUR NAPLES IT
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
C O N F I D E N T I A L LIBREVILLE 000049 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

C O R R E C T E D COPY - Correcting text in paragraph 6

ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU
KINSHASA ALSO FOR BRAZZAVILLE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/26/2117
TAGS: PREL PGOV MASS GB TP AO
SUBJECT: GULF OF GUINEA COMMISSION SECGEN READY TO ASSUME
RESPONSIBILITIES

REF: 2006 LIBREVILLE 00560

Classified By: Ambassador Barrie Walkley for reasons 1.4 b and d

C O N F I D E N T I A L LIBREVILLE 000049

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

C O R R E C T E D COPY - Correcting text in paragraph 6

ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU
KINSHASA ALSO FOR BRAZZAVILLE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/26/2117
TAGS: PREL PGOV MASS GB TP AO
SUBJECT: GULF OF GUINEA COMMISSION SECGEN READY TO ASSUME
RESPONSIBILITIES

REF: 2006 LIBREVILLE 00560

Classified By: Ambassador Barrie Walkley for reasons 1.4 b and d


1. (U) SUMMARY. The treaty establishing the Gulf of Guinea
Commission was ratified in 2006 by the requisite number of
states and the Gulf of Guinea Commission entered into force.
The Commission -- comprising Gabon, Equatorial Guinea,
Cameroon, Sao Tome and Principe, the Republic of Congo,
Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo -- can be a
useful vehicle for addressing maritime security concerns
throughout the oil-rich Gulf of Guinea. There have been
problems establishing the Commission HQ in Angola. The first
head of the Commission is Carlos Gomes of Sao Tome and
Principe; deputies from Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria have
not yet been named. END SUMMARY


2. (U) In February, 2001, a treaty establishing the Gulf of
Guinea Commission was signed by the heads of state of Gabon,
Equatorial Guinea (EG),Cameroon, Sao Tome and Principe
(STP),the Republic of Congo, Nigeria and the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC). Gabon was the primary force behind
the Commission, which can be a useful vehicle for addressing
maritime security concerns (the individual states of this
oil-rich region currently lack the capacity to police their
own waters and have no other mechanisms to promote maritime
security jointly). EUCOM has had consistent interest in the
formation of the Commission.


3. (U) In order to enter into force, the treaty required
ratification by two thirds of the parties (i.e., six of the
eight signatories). In 2006, Angola became the sixth country
to ratify the treaty (joining Gabon, Nigeria, EG, STP and
Congo). Cameroon, now that the Bakassi peninsula dispute is
settled, is (according to the Gabonese) ready to pursue
ratification; RDC's parliament undoubtedly has more urgent
matters to consider for the time being.


4. (U) According to Foreign Minister Jean Ping, not all

countries have yet deposited ratification documents with
Gabon; nonetheless, the treaty is in force and the Gulf of
Guinea Commission exists -- at least legally.


5. (U) When the Commission was proposed, it was determined
that the HQ would be in Gabon and that the Secretary General
of the Commission would be former president of Sao Tome and
Principe, Miguel Trovoada, with Deputy SecGens from EG and
Nigeria. (FYI: Miguel Trovoada was so interested in the job
that he decided not to run in the 2006 STP presidential
elections.) However, at a meeting in Libreville in August
2006, Angola offered to provide a Luanda office building for
the Commission and a residence for the SecGen -- and also to
pay all Commission operating costs for the first year. The
offer was accepted.


6. (C) At that point, STP President Fradique de Menezes
refused to endorse Miguel Trovoada for the SecGen position.
De Menezes, who has notoriously poor relations with Dos Santos,
was unhappy that the HQ would be in Luanda with a political
enemy, Trovoada, at its head. De Menezes did not object to
Trovoada's being in Libreville (in fact, he saw it as a
useful way to keep Trovoada out of STP). For de Menezes, the
problem with having Trovoada in Luanda was that Trovoada has
been a lifetime leader of the MLSTP, a political party
opposed to de Menezes and long supported by Angola. De
Menezes feared that Trovoada and Angola would jointly work to
undermine him.


7. (U) As a compromise, Carlos Gomes -- also from STP-- was
selected as the Commission SecGen. It was decided that Gomes
would visit Libreville to be "anointed," in a sense, by Omar
Bongo before officially assuming his duties. (The meeting
with Bongo -- the prime force behind the Commission -- is
seen as the equivalent to a swearing-in.) Gomes visited
Luanda in November 2006 and complained that the residence he
was being offered by the Angolans was far from the city and
would require too much commuting time. According to STP

Presidential Chief-of-Staff Nando Rita, the problem has now
been solved and Gomes is ready to assume his
responsibilities. Gomes has not yet been to Libreville for
the meeting with Bongo. Neither EG nor Nigeria has presented
the names of the Dep SecGen candidates.


8. (C) COMMENT: It is encouraging that the Gulf of Guinea
Commission Sec Gen is finally ready to assume
responsibilities. The Commission is the only regional
organization that combines an ECOWAS country (Nigeria) with
CEEAC states. It is uncertain, however, how effective the
body will be in approaching matters such as regional maritime
security. It is also uncertain how effective Carlos Gomes
will be as SecGen (he unfortunately does not have the stature
of Miguel Trovoada, who was president of STP from 1991 to
2001 and is well-known throughout the eight countries making
up the Commission).

WALKLEY