CAMEROON: BIYA ON ELECTIONS AND WAR AGAINST

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 YAOUNDE 000445

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/FO AND AF/C
EUCOM FOR J5-A AND POLAD
KINSHASA FOR BRAZZAVILLE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/09/2017
TAGS: CM PREL PGOV KCOR PINR
SUBJECT: CAMEROON: BIYA ON ELECTIONS AND WAR AGAINST
CORRUPTION

REF: A. YAOUNDE 174


B. 06 YAOUNDE 1501

Classified By: Ambassador Niels Marquardt for reasons 1.4 b and d.


1. (C) Summary: President Biya claims he is still hard at
work against corruption, and that he will fire and arrest
some of his most corrupt ministers (and his incompetent
transport minister) before election day. Finding lieutenants
who are both clean and competent seems to be a huge
challenge, however. Biya confirmed that he will convoke the
electorate for July 22 elections and also seemed interested
in trying something new (like a press conference) to increase
lagging voter registrations. Biya is supportive of major
U.S. investments in Cameroon, like Hydromine's bauxite
project and the "le Car" urban transit scheme. He hopes a
U.S. firm will re-bid on taking over Camair once a new,
transparent tender is launched. Cameroon will take over the
CEMAC presidency and Biya says he supports Obiang's desire
for reforms and a "redistribution of the CEMAC/BEAC cards."
On Darfur, Biya remains supportive of U.S. objectives and
policy but baffled by what makes Bashir tick. End summary.

Fight against corruption still on
=================================


2. (C) I met President Biya, at my request, on April 9 for
90 minutes. After opening pleasantries about my nomination
to Madagascar and the confirmation process ahead for me and
my successor here (Biya seemed surprised that our
constitution requires Senate confirmation),Biya turned to
corruption. He expressed rising frustration with the legal
actions against senior officials accused of embezzlement and
detailed his meetings with the Supreme Court President and
Justice Minister aimed at speeding up the process. He said
he was outraged to see certain accused officials, such as
former Douala Mayor Etonde, "walking around as if nothing has
happened." He said he was considering legal changes that
would make justice against the corrupt more swift.


3. (C) Concerning Finance Minister Abah Abah, he agreed
that Abah has no business representing Cameroon before the
World Bank, IMF, or USG, given his reputation for corruption.
Biya said that Abah's misdeeds continue, then asked what the
USG dossier on Abah must look like. I said negative
information about Abah's involvement in corruption was easily
available here, and noted that no USG decision on him had
been taken since his visa application was withdrawn. Biya
said that he will have to dismiss Abah "even before the
elections," and mentioned two other ministers - Health
Minister Olenguena Awono and Public Works Secretary of State
Abono - as likely to go too - "perhaps as well as others."
When I asked, he reconfirmed his intention to reshuffle the
cabinet before the elections, contrary to his earlier
assertion that he would wait until afterwards. He lamented
the fact that he only asks for two qualities in ministers -
integrity and competence - but often must choose between the
two. Discussing possible replacements for Abah, he mentioned
Deputy Budget Minister Essimi Menyi and ALUCAM Director
General Titi Manyaka - indicating that he has not yet decided
whom to name to this key post. He said that Deputy Finance
Minister Njankouo, whom he is sending to the IMF/WB meetings
instead of Abah, is also under a cloud and probably not
suitable. (Biya's comments on CONAC, the new anti-corruption
commission, are reported septel.)

Elections to take place in July
===============================


4. (C) Turning to elections, Biya expressed interest in
hearing what the U.S. and other donors have been doing to
promote voter registration. Biya said that "it is not normal
in a country of our size to have only four million registered
voters. I want to know why Cameroonians are not
registering." After giving him a t-shirt and an example of
flyers we are financing (with ESF funds) to encourage
registration, I gave him some blunt answers to his question:
apathy, lack of faith in those running the election (Interior

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Ministry officials),procrastination, a history of bad
elections, lack of information, and confusion about whose
role it is to encourage registration. I said western
diplomats think it's a collective responsibility among civil
society, parties, and the government, while some in the GRC
think it belongs to political parties alone. I encouraged
him to consider something out of the ordinary this week to
appeal to the electorate before it's too late. Biya
confirmed that he plans to convoke the electorate on or about
April 21, for elections to take place July 22, 90 days later.
Suggesting that he needed to do something unusual to attract
attention, I encouraged a Presidential press conference (with
questions limited to this election); he seemed very favorable
and said he would meet with Interior Minister Marafa today to
discuss the idea. He said he clearly understands that
successful elections are critical here, for a range of
reasons.

Bilateral relations and U.S. investments
========================================


5. (C) I also briefed Biya on our plans for celebrating
this year the 50th anniversary of the American diplomatic
presence in Cameroon this year. I gave him copies of
selected photos to be included in the photo exhibition to be
opened on July 4, and briefed him on the commissioning of a
JFK bust to be placed permanently in Avenue Kennedy in
downtown Yaounde. I also told him I expect Peace Corps
Director Ron Tschetter to come in June for the unveiling, and
asked that Biya receive him at that time. He agreed to do so.


6. (C) Regarding major U.S. investments, I briefed Biya on
recent difficulties faced by the organizers of the Hydromine
bauxite project (now meeting with Industry Minister Charles
Sale in Dubai, after three unnecessary postponements) and the
"Le Bus/Le Car" transport project (victims of a range of
unfulfilled GRC promises). Biya took my point that American
investors expect results, not process, when they invest, and
agreed with my request that major projects like these two
should receive particular treatment directly from the
Presidency. Biya apologized for the slowness and
inefficiency of his bureaucracy, and also said he would fire
Transport Minister Daikole, for incompetence and insobriety.
He also agreed to receive the President of Noble Energy when
he visits Cameroon next week to seek an extension of Noble's
offshore drilling license in promising acreage directly
adjacent their block in EG waters.

Camair and CEMAC
================


7. (C) Biya then raised two points of his own. First, he
noted that the proposed privatization of CAMAIR by SN
Brussels had been terminated. He said a new tender will be
issued, and asked whether any American company would be
interested. I said I thought so, pointing to the
Valiant/United consortium that had bid on the first tender,
but I stressed that the entire process of re-opening the
bidding must be transparent and in conformity with
international norms. Biya said he understood and that it
would be so.


8. (C) Second, Biya raised the recent visit to Yaounde of
EG President Obiang and related it to the aviation sector.
He said that Obiang wants Cameroon and EG to jointly organize
a "CEMAC airline." Biya said he is skeptical and would
prefer a national airline. He then noted that Gabon is about
to re-launch a national airline with Royal Air Maroc.
Chadian President Deby, he said, also had approached him to
do a bi-national airline to serve CEMAC. He seemed to be
testing his hypothesis favoring a national over a regional
carrier; I simply noted that Cameroon has a large domestic
market that needs to be served, and urgently.


9. (C) This segued into a discussion of CEMAC reforms. He
said that the proposed March summit in Ndjamena had been
postponed at the very last minute when he got a call from
Deby giving the excuse that Bongo's wife was ill and neither

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he nor Sassou could come. His team, he said, was already in
Ndjamena. He said the reasons behind Bongo and Sassou's
apparent reluctance were not clear, other than their fear of
losing power and prestige if Obiang gets his wish for more
positions within the CEMAC and BEAC structures. He said he
agrees with Obiang on the need for reform, remains committed
to regional integration, and is sympathetic, given that "half
to three-quarters of BEAC reserves belong to EG," that EG
should have more influence. Biya said that it is now
Cameroon's turn to take the CEMAC Presidency from Chad, and
indicated an eagerness to move ahead once Bongo/Sassou's
concerns are better understood. With respect to EG, he
expressed a lot of respect for the "hard-working" Obiang, but
lamented the poor treatment of Cameroonians by the GREG.

Africa tour d'horizon
=====================


10. (C) Before I left, Biya undertook a short tour
d'horizon of African issues. He said he thinks Sarkozy will
win, but expects little change in French politics toward
Africa. On Nigeria, he took my briefing on preparations for
the upcoming Nigerian elections, expressing an understandable
hope that any problems there don't spill over their
1,000-mile common border. I briefed him on Deputy Secretary
Negroponte's trip to Africa this week, stressing the
milestoneof a free and fair election in Mauritania and the
unsolved problem of Darfur that will also bring him to Chad,
Sudan, and Libya. Biya said he continues to support the US
position on bringing in the UN and said that a stop in Libya
is a good idea as Khaddafi seems to have influence over
Bashir. Expressing bafflement at Bashir's behavior, Biya
also related (again) his February conversation with Chinese
President Hu in which he noted the negative spillover effects
of Darfur on Cameroon and asked the Chinese to put pressure
on Khartoum. Overall, he promised Cameroon's continuing
support for "stopping the genocide in Darfur." With respect
to Iraq and the Middle East, Biya reiterated Cameroon's
support and admiration for President Bush's efforts to
resolve a very difficult situation.


11. (C) Comment: Regarding corruption, I once again left
Biya's office convinced that he sincerely wants to dismantle
a system that largely was created on his watch. I did not
leave today any more convinced, however, that he will
actually be able to do so. The networks are so deeply rooted
and insidious that he is obviously frustrated as he tries to
find anyone not tainted by it who is also competent to help
run his government. Regarding the elections registration
challenge, we will know within days whether Biya decided to
do anything unusual to get out the vote. A massive turnout
is not intuitively beneficial for the status quo or for the
interests of the CPDM. However, to end this comment on a
hopeful note, if he does in fact fire and arrest some of his
most notorious ministers before the election, he and his
party will probably benefit at the polls.
MARQUARDT