CAMEROONIAN MINISTER: BIYA COMMITTED, BUT

C O N F I D E N T I A L YAOUNDE 000573 SIPDIS STATE FOR AF/C AND INL/C COMMERCE FOR ITA KAREN BURRESS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/23/2019 TAGS: KCOR ECON EINV ETRD PINR CM SUBJECT: CAMEROONIAN MINISTER: BIYA COMMITTED, BUT HAMSTRUNG, IN ANTI-CORRUPTION FIGHT REF: 08 YAOUNDE 855 Classified By: Political Officer Tad Brown for Reasons 1.4 b and d. ¶1. (C) Summary. On June 23, Poloff called on Victor Mengot, Minister at the Presidency in Charge of Special Duties, to discuss two high-profile American investments, Geovic and Le Bus, where the American investors are at loggerheads with the Government of Cameroon's (GRC) representatives. Mengot was thankful for USG anti-corruption assistance and said Biya remained committed to fighting corruption in Cameroon, but was hamstrung by the need to manage political realities and the lack of trustworthy collaborators. Mengot explained that, in his role as Chairman of the Board of the Electricity Development Corporation (EDC),he had recently moved to circumscribe the authority of Celestin Ndonga, the EDC General Manager, because of concerns about Ndonga's corruption. End summary. Celestin Ndonga's Poor Governance of the EDC -------------- ¶2. (C) Mengot, who also serves as the Chairman of the Board of EDC, a government agency responsible for managing Cameroon's power generation infrastructure, said he had taken drastic action at a June 19 EDC Board meeting to address misgivings about the performance EDC General Manager Celestin Ndonga. Mengot explained he had originally opposed Ndonga's appointment, but that Ndonga had the support of individuals who wielded influence with President Biya. Mengot said Ndonga was unable to account for 1 billion CFA (about $2 million) in funds he had spent over the previous year and had consistently failed to abide by the regulations governing the management of a parastatal. As a result, the Board circumscribed Ndonga's authority ,requiring a double signature for all disbursements from now on. Mengot said Biya had given him permission to take steps to address Ndonga's malfeasance, but that he was still lobbying for Ndonga's removal, a decision only Biya could take. (Note. Post has been aware of Ndonga's mismanagement and corruption since his tenure at the Ministry of Mines, where he solicited payments from an American company. In reftel SAO, Post requested that Ndonga be found ineligible under INA Section 212f to enter the U.S. for his corrupt acts. End note.) Biya is Committed to Corruption Fight, but Context is Complicated -------------- ¶3. (C) While the late Gabonese President Omar Bongo and others in the region have been the object of lawsuits and media stories because of their substantial personal wealth, Biya has been spared, Mengot argued, because he has not used his position to enrich himself. Biya is incensed at the level of corruption within his own government, Mengot insisted, and feels betrayed that many of those in whom he placed confidence have engaged in large-scale embezzlement. Mengot said Biya is moving aggressively to fight corruption, asking rhetorically "what other country in the world has put so many ministers and high officials in jail?" Nevertheless, Biya is hamstrung by the challenge of identifying potential cabinet members whom he can trust and the restraints of Cameroon's political context, which requires a delicate balancing of regional representation and competing political networks. Mengot said Biya has all but given up on implementing the asset declaration provisions required under the Constitution, because "none of his collaborators would pass the test and, well, he cannot work alone." Mengot said he anticipated Bongo's recent death would be an "eye-opening" moment for Cameroon's leadership and that Cameroon's next President would be able to tackle asset declaration and some of the others issues that Biya has avoided. American Investments: Le Bus and Geovic -------------- ¶4. (C) Poloff conveyed to Mengot the concern that a festering dispute between the American shareholders in Geovic Cameroon, a cobalt mining project, and the GRC representative, the National Investment Corporation (SNI), which holds a 20 percent stake in the Geovic project, would threaten the project's viability on world capital markets. The American shareholders, represented by Geovic Limited, and SNI disagree about the exchange rate formula used to account for the investments that Geovic Limited made in the early stages of the project. Mengot agreed that SNI's rush to bring the dispute to court was precipitous and said he would recommend to SNI's leadership that the issue be brought to arbitration, as called for under the shareholders' agreement, before taking recourse to the courts. ¶5. (C) Mengot said he was troubled by the continuing arguments between the American and Cameroonian shareholders in Le Bus, a company established to provide bus transport in Yaounde. Mengot said he hoped to consolidate the shares of the Cameroonian government, currently held by the City Council of Yaounde and two GRC parastatals, into one holding, to be managed by the Community Investment Fund (FEICOM),thereby removing Yaounde City Delegate Tsimi Evouna from the process. Mengot admitted that Tsimi Evouna's imperious style had caused a number of problems for Le Bus, but also expressed concern that the representatives of the Transnational Automotive Group (TAUG),especially South African national Philip Dutoit, whom Mengot characterized as a "gangster," were not helping to resolve the current impasse. Comment -------------- ¶6. (C) Mengot's comments about Biya's personal commitment to rooting out corruption in his own government resonate with what we have been hearing from other sources, as do his assertions that Biya's options are limited by the shortage of competent and clean officials and the constraints of Cameroon's delicate political balance. On a couple of occasions, Mengot referred to "the next President," in a vague nod to the eventual post-Biya era that is rare, but increasingly less so, from someone in Mengot's seniority in government. Mengot has sought to help resolve protracted disputes at the center of Le Bus and to establish other American investments, and we will continue to engage with him on these fronts. End comment. Bio Note -------------- ¶7. (C) An Anglophone from the South West Region, Mengot was the Inspector General of the GRC's procurement agency (ARMP) before being appointed to his current position, with the recommendation of Prime Minister Inoni, according to an Embassy contact close to Inoni. Although it is difficult to determine Mengot's responsibilities or influence within the Presidency and with Presidency Biya, Mengot has suggested to Poloff that he has frequent access to Biya directly (which would be a rare commodity) and that he has been asked to shepherd American investments in Cameron, including Le Bus. Mengot has always been receptive to requests for meetings with Embassy officials. He travels frequently with President Biya. At this time, we are not aware of any allegations of corruption or malfeasance involving Mengot. Mengot said he has a sister-in-law in the U.S. and that he established personal bank accounts with PNC Bank in Washington, DC and Citigroup in order to pay his accounts with American Express and Diner's Club. GARVEY