VZCZCXRO8763
PP RUEHPA
DE RUEHYD #0445/01 0991625
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 091625Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7575
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 1315
RUEHKI/AMEMBASSY KINSHASA 0932
RUEHLC/AMEMBASSY LIBREVILLE 1520
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1572
RUEHNJ/AMEMBASSY NDJAMENA 1480
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1817
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 YAOUNDE 000445 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/FO AND AF/C 
EUCOM FOR J5-A AND POLAD 
KINSHASA FOR BRAZZAVILLE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/09/2017 
TAGS: CM PREL PGOV KCOR PINR
SUBJECT: CAMEROON: BIYA ON ELECTIONS AND WAR AGAINST 
CORRUPTION 
 
REF: A. YAOUNDE 174 
 
     ¶B. 06 YAOUNDE 1501 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Niels Marquardt for reasons 1.4 b and d. 
 
¶1.  (C)  Summary:  President Biya claims he is still hard at 
work against corruption, and that he will fire and arrest 
some of his most corrupt ministers (and his incompetent 
transport minister) before election day.  Finding lieutenants 
who are both clean and competent seems to be a huge 
challenge, however.  Biya confirmed that he will convoke the 
electorate for July 22 elections and also seemed interested 
in trying something new (like a press conference) to increase 
lagging voter registrations.  Biya is supportive of major 
U.S. investments in Cameroon, like Hydromine's bauxite 
project and the "le Car" urban transit scheme.  He hopes a 
U.S. firm will re-bid on taking over Camair once a new, 
transparent tender is launched.  Cameroon will take over the 
CEMAC presidency and Biya says he supports Obiang's desire 
for reforms and a "redistribution of the CEMAC/BEAC cards." 
On Darfur, Biya remains supportive of U.S. objectives and 
policy but baffled by what makes Bashir tick.  End summary. 
 
Fight against corruption still on 
================================= 
 
¶2.  (C)  I met President Biya, at my request, on April 9 for 
90 minutes.  After opening pleasantries about my nomination 
to Madagascar and the confirmation process ahead for me and 
my successor here (Biya seemed surprised that our 
constitution requires Senate confirmation), Biya turned to 
corruption.  He expressed rising frustration with the legal 
actions against senior officials accused of embezzlement and 
detailed his meetings with the Supreme Court President and 
Justice Minister aimed at speeding up the process.  He said 
he was outraged to see certain accused officials, such as 
former Douala Mayor Etonde, "walking around as if nothing has 
happened."   He said he was considering legal changes that 
would make justice against the corrupt more swift. 
 
¶3.  (C)  Concerning Finance Minister Abah Abah, he agreed 
that Abah has no business representing Cameroon before the 
World Bank, IMF, or USG, given his reputation for corruption. 
 Biya said that Abah's misdeeds continue, then asked what the 
USG dossier on Abah must look like.  I said negative 
information about Abah's involvement in corruption was easily 
available here, and noted that no USG decision on him had 
been taken since his visa application was withdrawn.  Biya 
said that he will have to dismiss Abah "even before the 
elections," and mentioned two other ministers - Health 
Minister Olenguena Awono and Public Works Secretary of State 
Abono - as likely to go too - "perhaps as well as others." 
When I asked, he reconfirmed his intention to reshuffle the 
cabinet before the elections, contrary to his earlier 
assertion that he would wait until afterwards.  He lamented 
the fact that he only asks for two qualities in ministers - 
integrity and competence - but often must choose between the 
two.  Discussing possible replacements for Abah, he mentioned 
Deputy Budget Minister Essimi Menyi and ALUCAM Director 
General Titi Manyaka - indicating that he has not yet decided 
whom to name to this key post.  He said that Deputy Finance 
Minister Njankouo, whom he is sending to the IMF/WB meetings 
instead of Abah, is also under a cloud and probably not 
suitable. (Biya's comments on CONAC, the new anti-corruption 
commission, are reported septel.) 
 
Elections to take place in July 
=============================== 
 
¶4.  (C)  Turning to elections, Biya expressed interest in 
hearing what the U.S. and other donors have been doing to 
promote voter registration.  Biya said that "it is not normal 
in a country of our size to have only four million registered 
voters.  I want to know why Cameroonians are not 
registering."  After giving him a t-shirt and an example of 
flyers we are financing (with ESF funds) to encourage 
registration, I gave him some blunt answers to his question: 
apathy, lack of faith in those running the election (Interior 
 
YAOUNDE 00000445  002 OF 003 
 
 
Ministry officials), procrastination, a history of bad 
elections, lack of information, and confusion about whose 
role it is to encourage registration.  I said western 
diplomats think it's a collective responsibility among civil 
society, parties, and the government, while some in the GRC 
think it belongs to political parties alone.  I encouraged 
him to consider something out of the ordinary this week to 
appeal to the electorate before it's too late.  Biya 
confirmed that he plans to convoke the electorate on or about 
April 21, for elections to take place July 22, 90 days later. 
 Suggesting that he needed to do something unusual to attract 
attention, I encouraged a Presidential press conference (with 
questions limited to this election); he seemed very favorable 
and said he would meet with Interior Minister Marafa today to 
discuss the idea.  He said he clearly understands that 
successful elections are critical here, for a range of 
reasons. 
 
Bilateral relations and U.S. investments 
======================================== 
 
¶5.  (C)  I also briefed Biya on our plans for celebrating 
this year the 50th anniversary of the American diplomatic 
presence in Cameroon this year.  I gave him copies of 
selected photos to be included in the photo exhibition to be 
opened on July 4, and briefed him on the commissioning of a 
JFK bust to be placed permanently in Avenue Kennedy in 
downtown Yaounde.  I also told him I expect Peace Corps 
Director Ron Tschetter to come in June for the unveiling, and 
asked that Biya receive him at that time.  He agreed to do so. 
 
¶6.  (C)  Regarding major U.S. investments, I briefed Biya on 
recent difficulties faced by the organizers of the Hydromine 
bauxite project (now meeting with Industry Minister Charles 
Sale in Dubai, after three unnecessary postponements) and the 
"Le Bus/Le Car" transport project (victims of a range of 
unfulfilled GRC promises).  Biya took my point that American 
investors expect results, not process, when they invest, and 
agreed with my request that major projects like these two 
should receive particular treatment directly from the 
Presidency.  Biya apologized for the slowness and 
inefficiency of his bureaucracy, and also said he would fire 
Transport Minister Daikole, for incompetence and insobriety. 
He also agreed to receive the President of Noble Energy when 
he visits Cameroon next week to seek an extension of Noble's 
offshore drilling license in promising acreage directly 
adjacent their block in EG waters. 
 
Camair and CEMAC 
================ 
 
¶7.  (C)  Biya then raised two points of his own.  First, he 
noted that the proposed privatization of CAMAIR by SN 
Brussels had been terminated.  He said a new tender will be 
issued, and asked whether any American company would be 
interested.  I said I thought so, pointing to the 
Valiant/United consortium that had bid on the first tender, 
but I stressed that the entire process of re-opening the 
bidding must be transparent and in conformity with 
international norms. Biya said he understood and that it 
would be so. 
 
¶8.  (C)  Second, Biya raised the recent visit to Yaounde of 
EG President Obiang and related it to the aviation sector. 
He said that Obiang wants Cameroon and EG to jointly organize 
a "CEMAC airline."  Biya said he is skeptical and would 
prefer a national airline.  He then noted that Gabon is about 
to re-launch a national airline with Royal Air Maroc. 
Chadian President Deby, he said, also had approached him to 
do a bi-national airline to serve CEMAC.  He seemed to be 
testing his hypothesis favoring a national over a regional 
carrier; I simply noted that Cameroon has a large domestic 
market that needs to be served, and urgently. 
 
¶9.  (C)  This segued into a discussion of CEMAC reforms.  He 
said that the proposed March summit in Ndjamena had been 
postponed at the very last minute when he got a call from 
Deby giving the excuse that Bongo's wife was ill and neither 
 
YAOUNDE 00000445  003 OF 003 
 
 
he nor Sassou could come.  His team, he said, was already in 
Ndjamena.  He said the reasons behind Bongo and Sassou's 
apparent reluctance were not clear, other than their fear of 
losing power and prestige if Obiang gets his wish for more 
positions within the CEMAC and BEAC structures.  He said he 
agrees with Obiang on the need for reform, remains committed 
to regional integration, and is sympathetic, given that "half 
to three-quarters of BEAC reserves belong to EG," that EG 
should have more influence.  Biya said that it is now 
Cameroon's turn to take the CEMAC Presidency from Chad, and 
indicated an eagerness to move ahead once Bongo/Sassou's 
concerns are better understood.  With respect to EG, he 
expressed a lot of respect for the "hard-working" Obiang, but 
lamented the poor treatment of Cameroonians by the GREG. 
 
Africa tour d'horizon 
===================== 
 
¶10.  (C)  Before I left, Biya undertook a short tour 
d'horizon of African issues.  He said he thinks Sarkozy will 
win, but expects little change in French politics toward 
Africa.  On Nigeria, he took my briefing on preparations for 
the upcoming Nigerian elections, expressing an understandable 
hope that any problems there don't spill over their 
1,000-mile common border.  I briefed him on Deputy Secretary 
Negroponte's trip to Africa this week, stressing the 
milestoneof a free and fair election in Mauritania and the 
unsolved problem of Darfur that will also bring him to Chad, 
Sudan, and Libya.  Biya said he continues to support the US 
position on bringing in the UN and said that a stop in Libya 
is a good idea as Khaddafi seems to have influence over 
Bashir.  Expressing bafflement at Bashir's behavior, Biya 
also related (again) his February conversation with Chinese 
President Hu in which he noted the negative spillover effects 
of Darfur on Cameroon and asked the Chinese to put pressure 
on Khartoum.  Overall, he promised Cameroon's continuing 
support for "stopping the genocide in Darfur." With respect 
to Iraq and the Middle East, Biya reiterated Cameroon's 
support and admiration for President Bush's efforts to 
resolve a very difficult situation. 
 
¶11.  (C)  Comment:  Regarding corruption, I once again left 
Biya's office convinced that he sincerely wants to dismantle 
a system that largely was created on his watch.  I did not 
leave today any more convinced, however, that he will 
actually be able to do so.  The networks are so deeply rooted 
and insidious that he is obviously frustrated as he tries to 
find anyone not tainted by it who is also competent to help 
run his government.  Regarding the elections registration 
challenge, we will know within days whether Biya decided to 
do anything unusual to get out the vote.  A massive turnout 
is not intuitively beneficial for the status quo or for the 
interests of the CPDM.  However, to end this comment on a 
hopeful note, if he does in fact fire and arrest some of his 
most notorious ministers before the election, he and his 
party will probably benefit at the polls. 
MARQUARDT