Hiding Africa's Looted Funds: The Silence of Western Media

*By Lord Aikins Adusei

Quite often when you read newspapers, listen to the radio and watch television in the West you are bombarded with how poor and corrupt Africans are. However, you will never watch, read or hear anything in these media outlets on the role play by : Western banking institutions; property development and estate companies; technology corporations; oil and mining cartels; defense and engineering companies; and western political and business elite in promoting corruption in Africa.

When it comes to Africa and the developing world, the Western media pretend to be doing a good job only when there is an embarrassing story or a scandal that undermines their own credibility as the watchdog of the state. It is not uncommon to see poverty stricken Africans being shown in documentaries, movies, and television screens in the West but these same documentaries fail to show the involvement of Western capitalist institutions in fanning the poverty. Although corruption involves a giver and recipient, it is always the taker who is reported in the media. In many instances bribes are offered in order to secure contracts, secure official favour or to induce officials in order to influence the out come of a government decision. In other instances people become corrupt because of the existence of favouring conditions as can be seen in most western countries with their banking secrecy laws.

Why does the media in the West ignore the role of western institutions in corrupt deals? The media in the west tend to ignore the role of western institutions for many reasons. They would rather show the poverty level in Africa but refuse to show the role play by western institutions for fear of loosing revenue through adverts. Most media outlets survive through advertisements from mega businesses and the multinational corporations so for fear of loosing revenues the media turn a blind eye to their activities such bribing politicians, public officials and polluting the environment. Again the editors, programme directors and the other big wigs in the media are thelselves shareholders in the companies in question so why would they want to jeopardise the source of their own wealth?

The enthusiasm with which CNN, BBC, ABC, CBS, ITN, SKYNEWS, television producers portray Africa as poor, backward, least developed and corrupt is not displayed when they report on the role play by Western institutions in perpetuating the aforementioned. They fail to tell the world that the looted funds that make Africans poor are sitting in Europe, America, Australia, New Zealand and other offshore Islands controlled by the West. They fail to tell the world that Africa would be a different place if all the stolen monies are returned from Switzerland, Britain, America, France, Monaco, Luxembourg, Austria and Liechtenstein. After years of foot draggings Swiss authorities decided to repatriate monies stolen by the Abacha regime. So I asked myself where was the western media when Swiss and British Banks were receiving the looted funds? The fact still remains that until recently and with the exception of the BBC none of the western media establishment had permanent reporters based in Africa with reason only best known to themselves.

Corruption is rife in Africa because banking institutions in Europe especially Switzerland, France, Jersey Island, Britain, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Austria and US among others accept money from African leaders without questioning its source. According to the UN and the AU around $148 billion is stolen from the continent annually by political leaders, multinational corporations, the business elite and civil servants with complicity of the banking and property industries in Europe and North America.

Even though western banks act as safe havens for looted funds, very little attention is received from the western media to expose them. No effort has been made by the political elite in Europe and America to force the banks to return these stolen monies because they are often the shareholders and beneficiaries of profits made by these banks. They have no agenda to combact corruption as that would mean no fat dividends for them and no cheap credits for their citizens.

Within five years of his reign (1993-98) Sani Abacha of Nigeria according to official sources was able to stash four billion dollars and between 12 and 16 billion dollars according to unofficial sources. After his death in 1998, investigators in Nigeria, Europe and America stumbled on over 130 bank accounts in Australia, New Zealand, London, New York, France and Switzerland among other countries where some of the money stolen was kept.

According to France24, a French police investigation has established that Bongo and his family own at least 33 luxury properties in France, including a villa located at Rue de la Baume, near the Elysée Palace, in Paris bought in 2007 for 18.8 million Euros. The French President Nicolas Sarkozy was spotted greeting Bongo in this villa bought with funds looted from Gabon. Source: France24 Thursday 26 February 2009. Other investigations have uncovered that he and his family have at least 59 properties, several bonds and stocks in France alone. Aljazeera news network has reported that Bongo's late Wife Edith is believed to have stashed $75m in the safe haven hub of Monaco yet they are unwilling to expose the banks involve.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner was embarrassed when it was revealed that Bongo’s government paid his consultancy firm a staggering 2.64 million Euros for advice on health policy drawn up by Kouchner before he took office as French foreign minister. Source: Timesonline February 5, 2009.

Bernard Kouchner is not the only person in France, Europe and America to have benfited from the shady and corrupt dealings of Africa's political and business establishment. It has recently come to light that Omar Bongo secretly financed Jacques Chirac and Francois Mitterand's election campaigns using money he had stolen from his country.The question is who assisted him to steal and hide his ill-gotten wealth in France I mean the 70 banks accounts stashed with hundreds of millions of euros and the 33 luxury mansions that he bought? Is it not those he helped to become presidents, prime ministers and foreign ministers in France? The fact is that Bongo was able to steal, mismanage and run down his country because of the support he received from those he helped win elections in France.

Araminta Wordsworth of www.nationalpost.com says: "The French media are operating under no constraints in commenting on Africa’s longest-ruling despot, a man successive French presidents played a huge role in keeping in power and vice-versa. Bongo contributed to the election campaigns of François Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac; Nicolas Sarkozy’s first act as president-elect was to call the Gabonese president and thank him for his advice. Bongo also worked for the French secret service. But oil was key to his power". Source: National Post, June 9, 2009.

The disgraced Elf-Aquataine executives said they paid Bongo between 30 to 50 million dollars through secrete bank accounts in Switzerland but no attempt has been made to expose and prosecute these banks.

On February 26, 2009 a French court had Omar Bongo’s nine bank accounts containing several millions of Euros frozen. In confirming the court’s decision, Lawyer Jean-Philippe Le Bail said, “This concerns Crédit Lyonnais, in which the president of Gabon has two current accounts, two savings accounts and a share account, and BNP, in which he has two checking accounts, a savings account and a share account”. These are the banks whose shady deals with the political and business elite continue to impoverish African countries but which for profits sake the media refuse to tell the world about. The banks know these corrupt leaders have stolen the money yet they pretend not to know until there is a scandal before they begin to act as if they are responsible institutions. How  Bongo and Denis Sassou Nguesso of Congo were respectively able to open 70 and 112  bank accounts in France is only known to the banks and the political establishment in France but it is without disputable that the media in France did not do their job to expose the rot involving Bongo, the political and business elites, and the property and banking institutions in that country.

Most foreign banks have been implicated for receiving billions of dollars of looted funds from the late Mobutu of Zaire; Lansana Conte of Guinea; Eyadema of Togo; and a number of tyrants such as Omar Bongo of Gabon; Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea; Dos Santos of Angola; Denis Sassou Nguesso of Congo; Paul Biya of Cameroon; Arap Moi of Kenya; Jerry Rawlings of Ghana; Ibrahim Babadjinda of Nigeria and a number of sitting and ex-presidents in Africa yet western media is silent about where the funds are being kept.

The banks in Europe and America that aided, abetted and provided sanctuary for Abacha´s $4 billion stolen funds are: Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, ANZ, London Branch; Bank Len, Zurich; Bankers Trust Company, London; Bankers Trust Company, Frankfurt; Bankers Trust Company, New York; Banque Barring Brothers, Geneva; Bank in Liechtenstein A. G. Vaduz; Barclays Bank, New York; Barclays Bank, London; Banque Edouard Constant, General; Banque Nationale De Paris, Geneva; Banque Nationale De Paris, London; Banque Nationale De Paris, Basle; Citibank N. A. London; Citibank N. A. New York; Citibank N. A. Luxembourg; Citibank Zurich; Credit Lyonnais, New York; Credit Suisse , New York; Credit Suisse, General; Credit Suisse, Zurich; Deutche Morgan Grenfell, Jersey; FIBI Bank (Schweiz) A. G. Zurich; First Bank of Boston , London; Goldman Sachs and Company, Zurich; Gothard Bank, Geneva; LGT Liechtenstein Bank, Vaduz; Liechtenstein Landesbank, Vaduz; M. M. Warburg and Company, Luxembourg; M. M. Warburg and Company,Zurich; M. M. Warburg and Company, Hamburg; Merrill Lynch Bank, New York; Merrill Lynch Bank, Geneva; Midland Bank, London; National Westminister Bank, London; Paribus, London; Paribus, Geneva; Royal Bank of Scotland , Leeds; Standard Bank London Limited, London; UBS AG, Zurich; UBS AG, Geneva; Union Bancaire Privee, Geneva; Union Bancaire Privee, London; London Branch; Verwaltungs Und Private Bank A. G., Vaduz; and ANZ, New York; ANZ, Frankfurt. Source: Tell Magazine, October 7, 2002.

Only heaven knows how much of Abacha´s loot still remain in these banks. We did not hear anything about these banks in the Western media and how they were helping Abacha to loot Nigeria's resources until his death in the until his death in 1998.

According to a 110 page report prepared by international risk consultancy firm Kroll, Arap Moi and his family have banked £1 billion in 28 countries including Britain but the media in the west will not expose the banks involved.The Guardian, Friday 31 August 2007.

Apart from the banking sector, the property sector in Europe, America and Australia have also connived with the political and business elite in Africa to impoverish the people. Several African leaders have bought properties in Europe and America using monies stolen from their poor countries. It is on record that Mobutu of DRC (Zaire) bought several villas in France, Switzerland, Belgium and many European Countries. Yet again the companies selling the villas have been kept secret by the media. Why ?

It has recently come to light that Arap Moi of Kenya and his family bought several multimillion pound properties in London, New York, South Africa including 10,000-hectare ranch in Australia and bank accounts containing hundreds of millions of pounds. While majority of Kenyans live in slums and in rural areas, with little roofing on their heads and lacking water and other basic necessities of life, Moi’s family live in a £4m home in Surrey and £2m flat in Knightsbridge yet the media will not expose the estate companies involved.

It is common for western companies looking for lucrative contracts to pay bribes and kickbacks to induce officials into awarding them contracts. For example on 17th September 2002, a Canadian firm called Acres International was convicted by a High Court in Lesotho for paying $260,000 bribe to secure an $8 billion dam contract. 

In 2002, Halliburton, a company once controlled by Dick Cheney (former US Vice President) was accused of establishing $180m fund and used it to bribe Nigerian officials in order to secure a $10 billion Liquefied Gas Plant contract in Nigeria. 

Achair Partners (a Swiss company) and Progresso (an Italian company) have been accused of bribing Somalia’s Transition Government officials in order to secure contracts to deposit highly toxic industrial waste in the waters of Somalia. Such corrupt practices by western companies seeking contracts in Africa are one of the reasons why poverty and diseases are rife in the continent. The simple truth is that the media in the West is aware of the collusion and connivance of western corporations with the leaders in Africa to steal from the people but refuses to say anything for the simple reason that they do not want to lose lucrative advertisement deals with these vamperic and parasitic corporations but rather choose to pick on the Africans leaving the corporations to continue on the path of destruction.

The catastrophic environmental damage being caused by Oil, mining and timber companies such as Shell, BP, Total, Elf, Texaco, Mittal, Anglo-America Corporation in Nigeria, Ghana, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Angola, Congo, DR. Congo, South Africa, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Senegal do not make the news in the West. How often do we hear about the huge environmental price Africans are paying to satisfy the west’s insatiable appetite for energy and technology? Apart from the huge profits being made by these conglomerates which we often hear in the news, do we hear also their complete disregard for environmental rules; the pollution of rivers, lakes, streams, wells, and the environment?

On June 30, 2009 a report by Amnesty International entitled "OIL INDUSTRY HAS BROUGHT POVERTY AND POLLUTION TO NIGER DELTA" listed a number of environmental destruction and damage that the Oil Cartel is causing in the region.

In October 2002, after a three year investigation a UN Panel of Experts implicated Cabot Corporation (Boston), Eagle Wings Resources International, and George Forrest’s OM Group (Ohio) for arming rebel groups and collaborating with them to traffic from DR. Congo gold, diamond, timber and most importantly coltan (columbo-tantalite)-a precious ore essential to Sony playstations, laptop computers, and cell phones. Coltan is often spirited out of DRC to U.S., Swiss, Belgian, and German clients by Uganda and Rwanda army officers, rebel groups and through a network of criminal syndicates. In all 85 companies were implicated by the report. Source:FPIF, February 21, 2008.

Except the wars and the stranded faces of hungry refugees, do these illegal activities by the corporations make the news in the Western media? Definitely not. Even when local journalists and writers document this for broadcast in the west, it is not published as it does not serve their interests. The media only publish stories after NGOs and civil society organisations have fought to expose corruption and shady deals involving western corporations, business and political leaders.

This is the hypocrisy and double standard of the western media and its practitioners. They want the world to know how poor Africans are but fail to tell the world that Africans are poor because Western banking institutions, property development companies, defence companies and defence contractors, oil and mining corporations are major stakeholders in promoting Africa’s poverty and underdevelopment. Corruption and bribery in Africa and indeed the developing world could be reduced tremendously if the media for once put aside the pick and choose journalism and attach the same importance to show the degree of involvement by western capitalist institutions Europe, America and Japan and their role in keeping Africans poor.

*The author is political activist and anti-corruption campaigner. He blogs at www.lordadusei.blogsopt.com

Press Freedom:Ghana, Mali, South Africa and Namibia lead France and other western democracies

Cape Verde tails the premier human rights country

BY DJAMEL BELAYACHI

The new international press freedom index, from Reporters Without Borders (RSF), confirms a sound democratic well being among a group of African countries. This is against a backdrop of many European democracies who, by virtue of this index, are losing their grip on press freedom, one of the premier pillars of the principle of democracy. France finds itself in the 43rd position this year, behind four young African democracies. Despite this encouraging data among African countries, the general situation of press freedom on the continent is still far from impressive.

Is France still a model of press freedom? Not so sure, judging from the new press freedom index released by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) last Tuesday. France, a historical force to reckon with is — as far as human rights is concerned — 43rd in the standings, just ahead of Cape Verde (44th) and far behind budding African democracies including Ghana, Mali, South Africa and Namibia, in 27th , 30th, 33rd and 35th positions respectively. According to RSP, these countries are among some of the most respectful of press freedom, worldwide. RSF insists that democracy is built on solid foundations and that freedom is guaranteed in the 5 African countries that appear among the top 50 on their index.

	SEE ALSO • Morocco: The sorry state of freedom • Cameroonian security agents detain 2 journalists • Morocco: Blogger Boubaker Al-Yadib sentenced to six months in prison • All articles related to Media

Continuing its progressive slump from 2002, when the first RSF index on press freedom was released, France lost 8 points this year after an equally unimpressive 2008 rankings. In 2002, France was number 11. Since then, Journalists have found themselves “summoned by the police" while been "forced to reveal their sources,” regrets Jean-Francois Julliard, Secretary General of RSF. "The interference of political authorities, including the Head of State, Nicolas Sarkozy” is also pinned in the RSF report.

Although significant progress has been made in recent years in Africa (at the expense of several traditionally democratic European nations like France, Italy or Spain), the overall state of freedom of press is still worrying on the continent. Madagascar, which was the scene of a violent political upheaval this year, lost 40 points, as it nosedived into the 134th position. The Congo, where the opposition journalist Bruno Jacquet Ossébi died under murky circumstances, also falls 24 points to 116th position.

Guinea, where a demonstration was violently suppressed last September 28, remains at the 100th place. Niger, recently suspended from the Economic Community of African States (ECOWAS) following a highly contested legislative elections declined 9 points, setting camp at a dismal 139th position. Surprisingly, Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe (136th), following the renowned journalist, Jestina Mukoko’s kidnapping and eventual imprisonment, gains 15 points! RSF indicates that, an announcement by the government of national unity, this summer, to return the BBC, CNN and the Independent daily newspaper, The Daily News (...) has brought some hope. Mauritania, where General Ould Abdel Aziz’s election went smoothly in July 2009, has assembled a few points. Not surprisingly, Sudan (148th), Rwanda (157th), Equatorial Guinea (158th), Somalia (164th) and Eritrea (175th), fought for bottom spots.

North Africa falls

North Africa has seen a marked decline in press freedom in recent years and is hardly better off. Algeria lost 20 points in one year, sporting the 141st place. Morocco descended to 127th position, down five points. It must be noted that this year, the northern African kingdom banned and seized newspapers while slapping media houses and journalists with lawsuits. Tunisia, where President Ben Ali has won a 5th consecutive term, got the prize of the worst country for press freedom in North Africa.

The 2009 international press freedom index, was put together by RSF, between September 1 2008 and 1 September 2009. Data collection involved a questionnaire, which identified some 40 points, ranging from attacks against journalists (murders, imprisonment, assault, threats, disappearances, monitoring, etc..) to various forms of pressure that may be exerted on the Media (fines, censures, seizures, searches, advertising boycotts, etc..).

As Rwanda genocide docket grows in France, ministers aim to create war crimes Paris court unit

By Jamey Keaten (CP)

PARIS — France wants to speed up the way it prosecutes genocide and crimes against humanity, creating a special investigative unit in a Paris court as more suspects allegedly linked to Rwanda's genocide are turning up in the country.

Human rights advocates say the French move is welcome, though overdue in a country long criticized for harbouring foreign despots and for cushy relations with strongmen in its former African colonies.

Justice Minister Michele Alliot-Marie and Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner announced plans Wednesday to create a special judicial investigative service for crimes against humanity and genocide committed abroad.

The "judicial centre" would handle such crimes that involve anyone - French or not - who lives in or travels to France, Justice Ministry spokesman Guillaume Didier said.

"The homeland of human rights, France will never be a sanctuary for those behind genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity," the ministers wrote in a column in the daily Le Monde newspaper.

They are planning to establish the service as part of a legal reform bill to be presented in parliament in the first half of the year.

The ministers wrote that the goal is to speed up judicial treatment of war crimes and genocide cases, which can drag on for years. The unit - a sort of judicial task force - would pool resources and create a one-stop-shop for genocide claims that are currently filed in courts across France.

French investigators of genocide or claims of war crimes abroad face problems because information often is scattered geographically, the ministers said. Many cases are complex and require technical expertise.

The ministers said the proposed investigative section would not seek to compete with the "universal" jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, but would rely on national jurisdictions authorized as part of the 1998 Rome Treaty that created that court, Didier said.

Alain Gautier, president of the Collective of Civil Parties for Rwanda legal action group, said French judges are now examining 16 separate lawsuits linked to the Rwanda genocide.

In one recent case, the group in November accused Charles Twagira - now a doctor and pastor based in the northeastern city of Rouen - of crimes against humanity and genocide.

"The rising number of pending cases, notably involving more than 15 Rwandans awaiting trial, is prompting us to act quickly," the ministers wrote in the newspaper.

Separately, Rwanda has maintained that French soldiers there bore responsibility for the slaughter of minority Tutsis by Hutu extremists. The Justice Ministry says the new judicial investigative unit would respond to any claims of genocide - whether from inside France or from abroad.

Some other countries have similar structures to the one France has planned, but only a few have won convictions. Denmark and the Netherlands have had special prosecutor's offices that focus on war crimes since 2002; Sweden and Norway have special police units devoted to war crimes.

Spanish courts operate on a doctrine of universal jurisdiction, allowing for particularly grave crimes to be prosecuted in Spain even if the suspected atrocities were allegedly committed elsewhere. The government cut back that court power in October amid complaints from some countries investigated, like China and Israel. Now, such probes require a clear link to Spain.

Famed Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon used the law to have former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet arrested in London in 1998, trying - in vain - to put him on trial in Spain on terrorism, torture and other charges.

For France, which had a vast colonial empire across Africa and retains tight - and at times, controversial - ties to many countries there, the debate over genocide has particular resonance.

France and Rwanda restored diplomatic ties in November, three years after relations were severed when a Paris judge accused Rwandan President Paul Kagame of ordering his predecessor's assassination. The genocide broke out after the previous president, Juvenal Habyarimana, died in a plane crash.

The case still has not been resolved. France insists its justice system is completely independent and the case did not figure in the negotiations leading to restored ties. France grants immunity to serving heads of state like Kagame.

Kouchner leaves Thursday for a three-day African trip starting in Rwanda, his first since the bilateral diplomatic ties were restored.

William Bourdon, a French lawyer specializing in human rights and terrorism cases, said some legal defence teams have been seeking a genocide task force for three years.

He is among critics who say President Nicolas Sarkozy's call in 2006 - before he was elected - for a new era in relations between France and its former African colonies hasn't materialized.

In October, a French court ruled out further investigation into three African heads of state for money laundering linked to their assets in France, saying there was not enough evidence of wrongdoing.

A preliminary probe centring on Gabon's late leader Omar Bongo, the Republic of Congo's President Denis Sassou-Nguesso, and President Teodoro Obiang of Equatorial Guinea and their families found luxury cars and other signs of wealth - some paid for in cash.

In France, all genocide cases have been brought by non-governmental groups or individual claimants - never by state prosecutors themselves, said Bourdon.

"There have always been ulterior motives politically," Bourdon said. "There has to be greater transparency, and (those motives) need to disappear."

France's mayors 'can sell houses of Senegal's Wade'

President Abdoulaye Wade insists his hands are clean Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade has said mayors in France can sell any hidden properties which belong to him, after being accused of corruption. Mr Wade, 83, said he had made the offer "to prove I do not conceal any property in France". He said any proceeds should go to local charities, reports the AFP news agency. In November Paris-based activists lodged a formal complaint with a French court accusing Mr Wade of the "illegal acquisition of real estate in France". The Le Moment de se Lever pour l'Afrique (Time to Rise up for Africa; MLA) group made similar allegations against three other African leaders: Congo's Denis Sassou Nguesso, Equatorial Guinea's Teodoro Obiang Nguema, and Omar Bongo of Gabon, who died earlier this year. Mr Wade said he owned one flat in Paris, which he had "bought 25 years ago, long before I became head of state." He also said he held just one bank account in France and that he did not own any property in any other foreign country. Mr Wade, a veteran opposition leader who was first elected president in 2000, spent many years in France and married a French woman. The government previously said the allegations were intended to tarnish his image since announcing he wanted to stand for re-election in 2012.

France halts African leaders case

Once again the hypocrisy of the West is displayed here. Let's see if French leaders will ever open their mouths to talk about corruption in Africa. What do you expect when French political leaders are themselves beneficiaries of Africa's looted funds? A French appeals court has halted a lawsuit against three African leaders accused of embezzlement. Anti-corruption group Transparency International had accused the leaders of using African public funds to buy luxury homes and cars in France. But the court ruled the activists could not act against foreign heads of state. Denis Sassou-Nguesso of Republic of Congo, Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea and the late Omar Bongo of Gabon denied any wrongdoing. The court's ruling was welcomed by lawyers for Mr Nguema, who were quoted by Reuters news agency as saying it showed that "attempts to use the French justice system for obscure purposes are doomed to fail". A lawyer for President Ali Bongo of Gabon - Mr Bongo's son, who was elected following his father's death earlier this year - said he was "satisfied" by the ruling. "We are not hostile to the idea of transparency," he told the Associated Press news agency. The case followed a 2007 French police investigation which found the leaders and their relatives owned homes in upmarket areas of Paris and on the Riviera, along with luxury cars, including Bugattis, Ferraris and Maseratis. Transparency International, along with rights group Sherpa, had argued that it was not possible that the men and their entourages had bought the assets through their legitimate salaries. Last May, a French magistrate had ruled that the case, which became known as the "ill-gotten gains" case, was admissible in a French court. But representatives of the leaders had contested that ruling, saying that as civil society activists, Transparency International had no right to act as plaintiffs against heads of state. 'Questionable' Transparency International said it would appeal against Thursday's ruling. "Those in France and Africa who organise and take advantage of the looting of African public money will be celebrating with champagne," said William Bourdon, a lawyer for Transparency International. The organisation said it regretted what it called the court's "legally questionable" decision to throw out its case. In a statement, it said the move was "all the more regrettable because it prevents the opening of a case even though there is no doubt that the holdings identified by the police could not have been made solely with the salaries and fees of the targeted heads of state". The ruling showed that French law "still needs to evolve" to allow groups such as itself to take legal action, it said. "Without that, we will continue to deprive victims of corruption of an indispensible means to guarantee their rights." Maud Perdriel-Vaissiere of Sherpa told AP the news was "a big blow" but was "just one step in a legal battle that will be long". Gabon and Republic of Congo are former French colonies, while Equatorial Guinea is a growing oil exporter. Omar Bongo - who was Africa's longest-serving leader - died in June, but members of his family were also named in Transparency International's case. Source: BBC

Cameroon defends Biya hotel bills

Paul Biya has been in power in Cameroon for almost three decades Officials in Cameroon have defended President Paul Biya's controversial holiday in La Baule, southern France. His trip has been making headlines in France and Cameroon, as he is alleged to be spending $40,000 (£24,500) a day on 43 hotel rooms. But Cameroon's communications minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary told the BBC Mr Biya had a right to spend money allotted to him in any way he wanted. The average annual income in the West African country is $1,000. Mr Bakary told the BBC's Focus on Africa prgramme the reports were an attempt to "destabilise" the country. "Isn't he free to make a good use of his money?" the minister asked. "Does he have to give the account of the way that he's using this money to journalists in Paris or here?" The BBC's Randy Joe Sa'ah in the capital, Yaounde, says Mr Biya and his wife Chantal began their holiday on 15 August after meeting French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Reports in the French press say the couple and their delegation are staying in the five-star L'Hermitage Hotel. Mr Biya has been president of Cameroon since 1982.

Why Are We Still Poor?

By Lord Aikins Adusei

Look at the woman in the photograph on the left and her surrounding carefully. Does she look like someone who has been given help by aid agencies like United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), Oxfam, Action Aid, Christian Aid, World Vision, Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) and JICA?

Does she look like someone whose government has received billions of dollars in loans and grants from the World Bank or the IMF? Does she look like someone who has received financial or material help from US, Japan, Germany, Britain, France or Italy? Does she look like someone whose government receives billions of dollars in revenue from gold, oil, gas, coltan, diamond, timber, cocoa, cotton, tea, coffee, bauxite and uranium every year? Does she look like someone whose country has political and economic sovereignty or independence? And finally does she look like someone who has been liberated from colonialism?

What has happened to all the aid money or the IMF and World Bank loans or aid and grants from US, Japan, European Union and the revenue from the natural resources? In short why are the people so poor when Aid Agencies are helping them every day; when the World Bank and IMF give them loans every day; and US, Japan, Britain, Germany and others give aid and grants to the people every year? Who has benefited from all these monies? Could it be the donors and aid agencies themselves or the politicians who sometimes receive the money on behalf of the people? Could it be that nothing at all is received?

Why are we still poor? This is a troubling question. I cannot understand why after so many years of aid and big loans Africa still sits at the bottom of the world's progressive continents.

The World Bank and IMF claim to provide vital financial support to poor countries to help them alleviate poverty but more than fifty years of loans to these poor countries, poverty is still decimating them. So what happened to all the billions of dollars that the World Bank and IMF have provided to the world's poor? Could it be that the Bank and IMF give the loans and then turn round to force these poor countries to use it to service old and illegitimate debts?

Private banks

Could it be that the Bank and IMF give the loans to corrupt regimes who then deposit the money in their private banks in Europe and then ask the poor people who never benefited from the loans to use the little resources they have to service the odious debts? Could it be that the policies and solutions often prescribed by the Bank and IMF are toxic to the economies of these poor countries? Could it be that the loans are used to pay the so called technical experts that the Bank and IMF often send to the poor countries as advisers?

Could it be that the loans are given with conditions that benefit the creditors and not the countries who borrow the money? Can the World Bank and IMF explain to the World why so many poor countries remain poor after they had received tens of billions of dollars from them?

How do multinational corporations doing business in Africa pay for the resources that they exploit? Do they pay the governments with arms and military machines for use to oppress the people? Shell has been sued in the US for complicity in the hanging of Ken Saro-Wiwa and other environmentalist in Nigeria. Could it be that such complicities by multinational corporations, IMF, World Bank and Western governments are the result of the chronic poverty in the resource rich countries of Africa?

Who has received the money the multinational corporations pay? Or they don´t pay anything at all because they often pay bribes to politicians to look elsewhere why they plunder the resources, destroy and pollute the environment, rivers, wells, creeks, soil, lakes and fish stocks which are the livelihoods of most communities in mining and oil exploitation areas? Could it be that the destruction of their livelihoods by the multinationals are the result f the poverty and malnutrition we see in the continent?

Do multinational corporations declare all the profits they make in the African countries where they operate or they declare just pay a little and then hide the rest in their save haven accounts in Switzerland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Austria, Hong Kong, Singapore, Jersey and Caymans Island and the rest? And what role have they played to reduce poverty in the areas that they operate? How much of the billions of dollars of profits that Shell, BP, Chevron and Total make in Nigeria, Gabon, Angola, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea is used to correct the lasting environmental damage done to the communities where the resources are extracted? Is there anything called corporate social responsibility and how has the poor in Africa benefited from such responsibility?

Every year African leaders receive tens of billions of dollars from the sale of oil, gas, diamond, gold, bauxite, coltan, timber, cocoa, tea, coffee, cotton and many others. What has happen to all the money? Could it be that the money has been wasted on white elephant projects? Could it be that the money is stolen out right by corrupt politicians, the business elite and their cronies? If so could it be that Switzerland, France, Britain may be having a clue as to what has happened to all the money?

I have mentioned Switzerland and Britain because their banks have had direct links with all the corrupt regimes that Africa has ever produced from Mobutu, Sani Abacha, Lansana Conte, Eduardo dos Santos, Bakili Muluzi, Paul Biya and Blaise Campore to Ibrahim Babangida. Switzerland has so far returned $1.6-billions dollars to the poor countries where it was stolen, could it be that Switzerland and Britain are still hiding billions of dollars that could be used to improve the lives of Africans?

I mentioned France because Omar Bongo of Gabon and his family are known to have 70 banks accounts plus 59 luxury properties and 8 luxury cars in France alone and Denis Sassou Nguesso of Congo and his family also have 122 bank accounts, 24 luxury properties and a number of luxury cars in France alone not to mention those in Switzerland and other save haven centres. Could it be that the money meant for the development of the people like the woman in the above photograph is sitting in these 200 bank accounts in France? It is only God who knows how much money is contained in 70 and 122 accounts.

Abject poverty

There are so many Aid and Humanitarian Agencies in Africa claiming to be helping the people to alleviate poverty but fifty years on majority Africans still wallow in abject poverty with millions of children being left orphans due to diseases such HIV/AIDS and Ebola. Why?

Could it be that the Aid Agencies are not doing any work and claim to be working? Could it be that the Aid Agencies only cry for attention without necessarily doing anything to help the poor? Or could it be that they use the plight of the people to raise money and then use the money to pay fat salaries and bonuses to their staff and hold big parties without necessarily using the money to help the poor?

Every year United States, Japan, the European Union, Germany, Britain, France and Italy claim to give millions of dollars to the poor countries in the form of loans, grants and what have you. But we still have not seen poverty going down or stabilising. What has been happening to the aid money that US, Japan and Europe claim to have been given to third world countries? Who receives those monies and what do they use the money for? How has the ordinary people benefited from the grants and aid? If so much has been received then so much should have been done to reduce poverty isn't it? Why are we still poor despite years of development assistance?

If indeed the Aid Agencies, World Bank, IMF, US, Japan, European Union, Britain, Germany, France have given so much then why are we poor? Is it lack of luck or what? I really don't know can someone please help me?

*The Author is a Political Activist and Anti-Corruption Campaigner