Cablegate: Disgraced Former Ministers Indicted by National

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ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 041358Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY NIAMEY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2972
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NIAMEY 001122

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DEPT. FOR AF/W BACHMAN; PASS TO MCC

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KCOR KMCA NG
SUBJECT: DISGRACED FORMER MINISTERS INDICTED BY NATIONAL
ASSEMBLY

REF: A. NIAMEY 682
B. NIAMEY 847

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SUMMARY
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1. Hamani Harouna and Ari Ibrahim - both former Ministers of
Basic Education and Literacy in the Government of Niger (GON)
- were formally indicted by the National Assembly this week,
during an extraordinary session devoted primarily to
examining the two men's culpability in the public education
fund scandal (reftel B). In indicting the two men, the
National Assembly has stripped them of their ministerial
immunity, allowing prosecution to go forward. How far forward
it goes and how much the GON's investigation of the PDDE
affair broadens to include politically well connected
businessmen and luminaries of the ruling MNSD party will give
a good indication of how serious the government is about
fighting corruption. END SUMMARY

2. Convening in an extraordinary session on September 22,
the National Assembly established two commissions of 15
deputies each to investigate the charges relating to the two
former ministers. Hamani Harouna and Ari Ibrahim had resigned
in late June when the scandal over kickbacks and over-billing
in the donor funded Plan Decennal pour le Developpement de
l'Education (PDDE) broke (reftel A). On September 30, those
commissions offered their recommendations to the entire
National Assembly - indict both men for corruption and
malfeasance. The 113 member Assembly proceeded to do just
that on October 1 and 2, voting 100 to two to indict Harouna
and ninety-five to seven to indict Ibrahim by secret ballot.

3. Harouna, an MNSD power-broker who was roughly 18 months
into his stint as Basic Education Minister when the PDDE
scandal broke was indicted on the following charges on
October 1: infringing on bidders' freedom of and equal access
to public contracts; aiding and abetting fraudulent misuse of
public funds in the amount of CFA 285,557,660 (approximately
$558,821); embezzlement of public funds in the amount of CFA
20,921,000 (approximately $40,941); and, aiding and abetting
forgery that led to the misappropriation of public funds in
the amount of CFA 12,639,450 (approximately $24,734).

4. Ibrahim, Harouna's predecessor at the Ministry of Basic
Education throughout President Tandja's first term
(2000-2005) and a stalwart of the MNSD's biggest coalition
partner, the CDS, was serving as Minister of Health prior to
his June resignation. On October 2, the commission
investigating his case recommended indictment for: infringing
bidders' freedom of and equal access to public contracts;
aiding and abetting the fraudulent misuse of public funds in
the amount of CFA 571,754,200 (approximately $1,118,892);
and, aiding and abetting fraud and embezzlement of public
funds in the amount of CFA 10,348,078 (approximately $20,250).

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5. In voting to indict the two ministers, the National
Assembly has effectively referred the cases to the Supreme
Court's Prosecution Department. The court will establish an
investigative commission composed of three judges. The
commission will determine if sufficient grounds for
prosecution exist. If so, it will refer the case to the
National Assembly's High Court of Justice for trial. The High
Court of Justice exists specifically to try cases involving
members of the National Assembly and Ministers. Since its
establishment in 2005, it has never judged a case.

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COMMENT
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6. As guilty as Harouna and Ibrahim are, it is worthwhile to
remember that they were not the only ones implicated in the
PDDE scandal. Both men argued before the commissions that
Prime Minister Hama Amadou had signed off on all of the
contracts that they gave to the politically connected
businessmen, yet no one outside of the opposition media has
called for his indictment. However, the GON does appear to be
going after the businessmen and civil servants involved in
the PDDE scandal. The businessmen were brought to court and
ordered to reimburse the government for the amount of the
over-billing; they may yet be prosecuted as well. Many civil
servants, including the Secretary General and Financial
Controller of MEBA, are facing jail time. The National

NIAMEY 00001122 002.2 OF 002

Assembly's next great challenge may be to determine the fate
of three of their own. Among the businessmen who profited
from the mark-ups were three ruling coalition deputies.
KORAN

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