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