CNDD PRESIDENT SACKS AND ARRESTS LEAD AUDITOR

UNCLAS CONAKRY 000204

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM ASEC GV
SUBJECT: CNDD PRESIDENT SACKS AND ARRESTS LEAD AUDITOR

REF: CONAKRY 0201


1. (SBU) Just a few days after meeting with Pol/Econ Chief
to discuss the inner workings of the CNDD's Audit Commission
(reftel),Amadou Mouctar Balde finds himself without a job
and behind bars. CNDD President Moussa Dadis Camara signed
an official decree over the weekend, claiming that Balde was
responsible for causing "confusion and misinformation." The
news has Guinea's rumor mill working overtime. Available
information suggests that Dadis was unhappy with a public
statement Balde made over national television regarding the
status of the audit on Futurlec, a company owned by the
notoriously corrupt business magnate turned presidential
candidate, Mamadou Syllah.


2. (SBU) According to sources, Balde publicly exonerated
Mamadou Syllah of owing any money to the government. He
explained how the Guinean military had accepted delivery of
supplies and equipment from Futurlec worth $34 million, which
was documented by official, as of yet unpaid receipts. Since
Mamadou Syllah's total liabilities to the government are in
the neighborhood of $19 million, Balde argued that the GoG in
fact now owes Syllah approximately $15 million for goods
received (i.e. $34 million minus $19 million).


3. (SBU) Shortly after Balde's public statement, Radio
Television Guinean (RTG) broadcast an informal hearing in
which two former governors of the Central Bank (Ibrahima
Cherif Bah and Daouda Bangoura) and two former Ministers of
Finance (Cheick Ahmadou Camara and Mady Kaba Camara) were
questioned about missing funds. At issue was the
"mysterious" disappearance of some seven tons of gold from
the Central Bank as well as a number of "dubious"
transactions, valued at several million dollars, between the
GoG and Futurlec. Upon hearing this information, Dadis
reportedly became quite angry over the apparent
inconsistencies between the testimony and Balde's
pronouncement.


4. (SBU) Within the text of the presidential decree, Dadis
stated that Balde was not authorized to speak on the Mamadou
Syllah case, and that his actions encouraged confusion within
the population. For years, Mamadou Syllah has been widely
perceived to be among Guinea's most corrupt, and it was his
premature release from prison at the hands of the late
President Conte that sparked the nationwide labor strike in
early 2007.

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COMMENT
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5. (SBU) It is unclear whether Balde was arrested on solid
legal grounds, or for simply being at cross-purposes with
Dadis. The Mamadou Syllah corruption case is highly
sensitive and it was probably not a well-considered move on
Balde's part to publicly exonerate him over national
television without prior authorization, regardless of the
evidence. Still, the case highlights just how precarious
political life is under Dadis, not to mention his
increasingly arbitrary meting out of justice. The case also
suggests that all is not as the CNDD would like it to seem
when it comes to the audits and corruption investigations.
END COMMENT.
RASPOLIC