GOVERNMENT OF TOGO RE-ENGAGES ON CORRUPTION

UNCLAS LOME 000272

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

PARIS FOR KANEDA
ACCRA ALSO FOR USAID/WA
DEPARTMENT FOR AF, EB

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV ECON EFIN EAID EIND TO
SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT OF TOGO RE-ENGAGES ON CORRUPTION


1. (SBU) Summary. The Togolese Government highlighted the
revival of the moribund National Commission for Combating
Corruption and Economic Sabotage at the launch of a national
workshop in Lome on implementing the UN Anti-Corruption
Convention. In his keynote address, the Prime Minister
announced the GoT,s intention to ratify the UN Convention
and to pass comprehensive anti-corruption legislation. While
the rhetoric at the launch was encouraging, and while Togo
will be supported in its efforts by the World Bank and IMF as
both a means and a condition for re-engaging with the
International Financial Institutions, the GoT will need to
prove that it has the will and capacity to sustain a
transparent and effective process. End Summary.


2. (SBU) On June 9, Togolese Prime Minister Komlan Mally
opened a three day workshop on the UN Anti-Corruption
Convention, which Togo signed in Mexico City in December

2003. In his opening remarks, delivered on behalf of
President Faure, who is in New York for the Global AIDS
Summit, Mally hit all the right notes. He acknowledged the
problem and that earlier GoT efforts had been unsuccessful;
identified government as both the main problem and solution,
in collaboration with civil society and the private sector;
declared that no one would be above the law; highlighted the
importance of an effective and independent judiciary;
criticized certain foreign-owned companies for bribery, tax
evasion, false invoicing, and other dubious practices; and
singled out the transport sector as one that is particularly
riddled with corruption. (Note. USAID/West Africa has been
active in documenting and publicizing this problem in Togo
and elsewhere in the region. End Note.)


3. (SBU) Mally said the lack of comprehensive anti-corruption
legislation was one reason the GoT,s earlier efforts had
been ineffective. In this regard, he announced that a
comprehensive anti-corruption law would be forthcoming. He
also pledged that Togo would ratify the UN Anti-Corruption
Convention. He described the GoT,s progress in improving
government accountability over the past two years as it has
begun to re-engage with the International Financial
Institutions -- including the creation of a Cour des Comptes
(Auditor General/Tribunal) for prosecuting official
corruption. He said the National Anti-Corruption Commission
and the Cour des Comptes, once it is operational, will work
hand in hand. (Note. As efforts to revive the Commission
became apparent in recent weeks, opposition newspapers
criticized the move as an attempt to circumvent or otherwise
marginalize the incipient Cour des Comptes. End Note.)


4. (SBU) The National Commission was initially created in
2001 and was active (though criticized widely as ineffective)
until 2005, when Togo experienced severe instability during
the succession process that followed the death of head of
state and long-time dictator Gnassingbe Eyadema.
Anti-corruption efforts since that time have taken a back
seat to democratization, national reconciliation, and
re-engagement with the International Financial Institutions.


5. (SBU) Comment. It remains to be seen whether this chapter
in the GoT,s anti-corruption efforts will be any more
successful than the previous one, which is perceived as
having failed. It will need to take on influential members of
society and government. It will need to overcome severe
weaknesses in the bureaucracy and judiciary stemming from a
lack of infrastructure and human capacity, a history of
interference by the presidency, and a number of other
priority national initiatives competing for time and
resources. On the positive side, the Faure administration has
shown a willingness to break with the past in the pursuit of
a reform agenda and that it is sensitive to donor concerns.
In the latter regard, it recognizes that its performance in
combating corruption will have an impact on the quality and
level of assistance it will receive from the international
community. End comment.
DUNN