The management of the Community Agricultural Estates Program (Prodac), carried out by the General Inspectorate of Finance (Igf), is part of the reports of the control bodies transmitted to the courts as part of the hunt for dignitaries of the former regime suspected embezzlement of public funds. The Criminal Investigation Division (Dic) had already received the file and the hearings were declared imminent.
In its edition this Monday, Libération revealed the first cockroaches of this affair. The newspaper reports in fact that Prodac committed a major breach in the execution of the contract which linked it to Green 2000, the Israeli company responsible for the construction of the agricultural areas of the program.
“According to the Igf, the source whispers, even before the contract was registered, Prodac passed 2.3 billion CFA francs to Green 2000 through three payments.” Libération specifies that the Israeli company “received a start-up order on March 25, 2016” followed by the first payments on May 30 of the same year.
And to obtain the necessary funds, underlines the newspaper, Prodac would have exerted strong pressure on the lessor, Locafrique, by sending it “four payment requests between March 9 and July 8, 2016”. “However, points out the same source, the contract in question was notified [à Green 2000] July 25, 2026”, including after the start of payments. “Article 6 of the contract clearly links the payment of the start-up advance to the completion of the formalities of approval and registration of the contract. Article 5.2 of the financing agreement requires, as a prerequisite for payment of this advance, notification of the service order for the start of work to the company Green 2000,” recalls Libération.
The Igf described this violation of the terms of the contract and the program financing agreement as an “anachronism that is difficult to characterize”.
Former minister Mame Mbaye Niang, at the time of the alleged events, head of the Youth Department, which supervises Prodac, is cited in this affair. He would have been singled out by the Ifg report. He has always disputed it, going so far as to argue that the document in question does not even exist. Ousmane Sonko, then an opponent, defended the opposite. This earned him the conviction for defamation, which led to his ineligibility in the last presidential election. Having become Prime Minister, the leader of Pastef declared that not only was the Igf report in question available, but that it had been sent to the courts.
Related News :