VZCZCXRO0038
RR RUEHPA
DE RUEHBP #0170/01 0471150
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 161150Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY BAMAKO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6894
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAMAKO 000170 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/16/2017 
TAGS: PREL PGOV EFIN ECON ML
SUBJECT: INTERNAL CORRUPTION REPORT TARGETS OPPOSITION 
CANDIDATE 
 
REF: A. 06 BAMAKO 01363 
 
     ¶B. 06 BAMAKO 01113 
     ¶C. BAMAKO 00122 
     ¶D. 06 BAMAKO 00665 
 
Classified By: Political officer Aaron Sampson for reasons 1.4(b) and ( 
d) 
 
1.(C) Summary: On February 7 the Presidency's Office of 
Administrative Controls (CASCA) released its annual report on 
the use of government funds.  The 178 page report reveals 
sweeping administrative and fiscal irregularities at every 
level of the GOM - from Ministries down to distant municipal 
officials.  CASCA referred 48 of the 159 cases it audited to 
the GOM's public prosecutor for legal proceedings, including 
that of likely presidential candidate Tiebile Drame. On 
February 13, Drame and his Party for National Renewal 
(PARENA) called for the CASCA's dissolution and accused it of 
advancing the political vendettas of President Amadou Toumani 
Toure (ATT).  The GOM's willingness to investigate and 
release instances of government corruption - whether through 
the CASCA or the independent Auditor General's office - is 
welcome, but none of the CASCA's previous reports have 
produced any corruption convictions.  There is no indication 
that this year's report will be taken any more seriously. 
This is small consolation for Drame, however, as the CASCA's 
allegations will likely dog his entire presidential campaign 
- a fact undoubtedly not lost on ATT.  End Summary. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
Corruption, Corruption and More Corruption 
------------------------------------------ 
 
2.(U)  On February 7 the Office of Administrative Controls 
(CASCA), which falls within the office of the Presidency, 
issued its annual report on government corruption.  ATT 
created the CASCA in 2003 to investigate cases of corruption 
within the GOM after a 2001 World Bank report noted that 
Mali's so-called "Fight Against Corruption" had yet to 
produce any major corruption investigations.  Although the 
CASCA began issuing reports in 2003, its findings have 
yielded no corruption convictions.  This detail has not, 
however, dissuaded the CASCA from its mission of uncovering 
government fraud, waste and abuse. 
 
3.(U)  The CASCA's 2005/2006 report reveals fiscal hijinks in 
159 different offices that received government funds.  The 
report does not say whether the CASCA investigated offices 
other than those cited for administrative irregularities. 
Major incidents included: 
 
- the Malian Chamber of Industry and Commerce (CCIM).  The 
CASCA cited 34 irregularities at the CCIM, including 2 
million USD in payments to unidentified "beneficiaries" and 
several hundred thousand dollars worth of payments, without 
bills or written receipts, to unknown companies, individuals 
and landlords.  The CASCA forwarded the case of the CCIM, 
which is in the midst of a bitter and drawn-out battle over 
botched elections for the CCIM presidency (ref A), to the 
public prosecutor. 
 
- the Ministry of State Lands for inability to justify nearly 
2 million USD in litigation fees used to defend the GOM 
against an unidentified group of hotel owners, to recover an 
unspecified gift from Japan, and to defend the government 
against an anonymous business. 
 
- the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) for USD 230,000 in 
unjustified advances and USD 120,000 worth of unjustified 
perdiem to MFA personnel. 
 
- the Reinsertion program for former Tuareg combatants 
(CAR-NORD).  CASCA discovered that CAR-NORD recovered only 12 
percent of the 2.6 million USD spent on micro-finance 
projects for 9,088 former combatants from 2001 to 2005.  The 
repayment rate for larger projects totaling 2 million USD was 
under 3 percent.  In addition, CAR-NORD officials were unable 
to provide documentation to justify USD 400,000 spent on 
"meetings" and issued what amounts to roughly 35 gallons of 
fuel per day, from 2001 to 2005, to one vehicle belonging to 
the president of Mali's National Re-insertion Commission. 
 
- the Malian Embassy in Berlin for an inability to account 
for several hundred thousand dollars worth of expenditures 
and missing receipts. CASCA referred this case to the 
judiciary. 
 
- the Ministry of Agriculture for misuse of funds intended to 
combat the 2004 invasion of locusts.  The CASCA reported 
that, in one instance, the Agriculture Ministry paid 3.2 
million USD for pesticides but received only one order valued 
at 1.6 million USD.  This case was referred to the judiciary. 
 
BAMAKO 00000170  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
---------------------------- 
Drame and France-Africa-Gate 
---------------------------- 
 
4.(U)  The most politically explosive section of the CASCA's 
report dealt with former Foreign Minister and likely 
presidential candidate Tiebile Drame's stewardship of the 
2005 France-Africa Summit in Bamako.  When the Summit ended 
in December 2005, the GOM, France and other international 
partners hailed Drame's efforts as a resounding success. 
Nine months later, Drame found himself facing allegations of 
misuse of government funds.  Drame and his supporters argued 
that the allegations were concocted by ATT to weaken a 
potential presidential rival.  To substantiate this claim, 
Drame produced two competing reports by the GOM evaluating 
his management of the Summit.  The first report lauded his 
efforts.  In the second report, positive references to 
Drame's management were replaced with accusations of fraud 
and wrongdoing (refs B and C). 
 
5.(U)  Although the CASCA's audit of Drame and the 
France-Africa Summit produced nothing new, it marked the 
first official attempt by an office within the Presidency to 
cast Drame as corrupt.  The CASCA accused Drame of leaving in 
his wake approximately 1.2 million USD in unauthorized 
expenditures, 700,000 USD worth of unjustified payments, more 
than 4 million USD in unpaid bills and roughly 70,000 USD in 
missing office equipment.  On February 13 PARENA issued a 
highly compelling point-by-point rebuttal in Drame's defense, 
noting that other entities within the GOM were responsible 
for the expenditures and bills cited by the CASCA.  "The 
practices of the CASCA," said a PARENA spokesperson, "recall 
sinister memories of the political police and constitute a 
form of political blackmail and humiliation."  PARENA 
concluded its statement with a call for the CASCA's 
dissolution and increased support for the independent Auditor 
General's office. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
Comment: Presidential Politics and Dirty Tricks 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
6.(C)  CASCA's willingness to publicly release a sweeping 
indictment of government fiscal and administrative 
accountability is encouraging, but CASCA's status as an 
office within the Presidency raises serious questions about 
its political independence.  None of the 159 cases included 
in the 2005/2006 report focused on the Presidency.  The 
absence of any convictions from previous CASCA findings fuels 
suspicion that the CASCA's annual reports are more exercises 
in political score-settling than serious corruption busting. 
The allegations against Tiebile Drame would have carried much 
more weight had they emanated from the office of the Auditor 
General (ref D).  Given the CASCA's ties to the Presidency, 
the existence of dueling reports on Drame's oversight of the 
Summit, and the apparent flimsiness of the allegations 
against him, the current scandal appears to be pay-back for 
Drame's refusal to endorse ATT and a broadside from the GOM 
intended to hobble Drame's presidential campaign. 
McCulley