CEI COMMISSIONER PROVIDES INSIGHTS INTO SCANDAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABIDJAN 000019

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE PASS TO AMEMBASSY MALABO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/01/15
TAGS: PGOV KDEM IV
SUBJECT: CEI COMMISSIONER PROVIDES INSIGHTS INTO SCANDAL

REF: 10 ABIDJAN 15; 10 ABIDJAN 13

CLASSIFIED BY: Tanya Salseth, Political Officer, DoS; REASON: 1.4(B),
(D)


1. (C) SUMMARY: Independent Electoral Commission (CEI)
President Robert Mambe has remained silent while President Gbagbo's
supporters have accused him of fraud and called for his resignation
(reftels). Deputy CEI Spokesperson Yacouba Bamba told Poloff on
January 13 that, although Mambe did conduct further cross-checking
of data, he believes the CDs in question were planted by members of
the president's camp, who are seeking to delay elections by casting
serious doubts on the electoral process. END SUMMARY




2. (C) Deputy CEI Spokesperson Yacouba Bamba (a commissioner
appointed by the Forces Nouvelles) confirmed to Poloff that Mambe
did order CEI computer technicians to run further data cross-checks
after the provisional electoral list was posted nationwide. As a
result of these cross-checks, Mambe found 429,000 names among the
1.033 million "unverified" ones that could possibly be added to the
final list. These names were saved to CDs. Contrary to the FPI's
claims, Bamba said Mambe distributed these CDs to all of the
central CEI commissioners (including those appointed by the FPI)
sometime in November 2009. There is no evidence that these CDs
were used to add names to the list and they did not provoke much
interest until January 6. On that day, Bamba said President Gbagbo
asked Mambe to extend the period for challenging the provisional
electoral list for a third time. Mambe refused. Almost
immediately afterwards, the president's camp accused him of fraud.
Bamba told Poloff that he believes the CDs that were discovered in
local CEI offices were planted by employees who had been paid off
by the president's camp.




3. (C) When asked why Mambe had not come forward to defend
himself, Bamba said that the CEI president is concerned by how
tense the political atmosphere has become in the last week and
feels that challenging President Gbagbo's allegations could
substantially heighten tensions. He cited a demonstration that had
taken place earlier that day in which approximately 150 PDCI youth
marched on the state-run television station RTI after it aired
incendiary rhetoric of pro-FPI militant youth leader Charles Ble
Goude. [Note: the demonstration ended with several injured after
police used teargas to disperse the crowd. End Note.]




4. (C) President Mambe also does not want the process to
unravel just as the CEI is on the verge of producing the final
electoral list. Nor does he want to upset the delicate balance
currently held together by the Ouagadougou Political Accord, which
Bamba described as "hanging by a thread."




5. (C) COMMENT: Despite the Prime Minister's attempts to
calm the situation (reftel),the president's camp seems determined
to use this issue to further fan the flames. Desire Tagro, the
Minister of Interior and a Gbagbo confidante, issued a press
release on Jan 14 stating that the government will take the fraud
case to the highest judge in the country. Unfortunately, reports
in the local press have painted Mambe as guilty of fraud, without
providing any proof of the veracity of the claim. The press's
single-minded focus on the scandal and uninformed explanations on
how the electoral process works have also meant that the average
citizen does not understand that the integrity of the original
SAGEM database has not been compromised. While it is unclear how
long the judicial investigation into Mambe's actions will take, it
is certain to delay the election time table even further. END
COMMENT
NESBITT