VZCZCXRO2509
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHBP #1321/01 3130732
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 090732Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY BAMAKO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8394
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHLMC/MCC WASHINGTON DC 0085

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BAMAKO 001321 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KCOR EAGR PGOV KDEM ML
SUBJECT: FOR WHOM THE WHISTLE BLOWS: AN OFFICE DU NIGER 
MURDER MYSTERY 
 
REF: 06 BAMAKO 00918 
 
BAMAKO 00001321  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
1.(SBU) Summary:  On August 12, 2007, farmers in Niono 
discovered the body of Youssouf Dembele, mutilated by 
multiple hacks of a machete.  Dembele was the Secretary 
General of the Niono chapter of the African Solidarity for 
Democracy and Independence (SADI) party - a small opposition 
party known for defending the rights of rural farmers. 
During recent legislative elections, Dembele masterminded 
SADI's upset victory of two of Niono's three seats in the 
Malian National Assembly.  He was also, according to his 
colleagues, the primary whistle-blower behind a still 
unfolding USD 15.5 million corruption scandal involving the 
Office du Niger, the government agency charged with 
overseeing agricultural production in Mali's major 
rice-growing region.  SADI's national leadership has 
described Dembele's murder as a "political assassination" 
orchestrated by government officials and political opponents 
in Niono.  Although the investigation into Dembele's death 
continues, many have interpreted the killing, and the slow 
pace of the subsequent investigation, as further warning that 
those challenging the status quo of corruption and impunity 
within the Office du Niger do so at their own risk.  End 
Summary. 
 
------------------ 
A Day Before Dying 
------------------- 
 
2.(U) On August 11 the Malian Constitutional Court ratified 
the results of the July 2007 legislative elections.  The 
Court's decision confirmed that 4 of the 147 seats in the 
National Assembly now belonged to SADI - a small but 
extremely vocal opposition party whose only member of 
government, then Minister of Culture Cheikh Oumar Sissoko, 
had actively campaigned against President Amadou Toumani 
Toure during both the April presidential and July legislative 
elections.  SADI's presidential candidate, Oumar Mariko, ran 
on a platform that advocated the nationalization of local 
industries and finished fourth with less than three percent 
of the total vote. 
 
3.(U)  SADI's second-round legislative victory in Niono was 
perhaps the most remarkable, albeit overlooked, event of an 
electoral season that offered few if any surprises.  During 
the July 22 second round of voting, SADI's Niono candidates 
out-polled those run by the two giants of Malian politics - 
the Alliance for Democracy in Mali (ADEMA) and the Union for 
Democracy and the Republic (URD) - both flush with funds from 
supporters of President Toure in Bamako.  Trading on local 
outrage over the rampant corruption for which the Office du 
Niger is known, Youssouf Dembele created a grassroots 
groundswell strong enough to overpower the ADEMA and URD 
political machines, and beat back local officials' attempts 
to tip the electoral scales. 
 
4.(U)  On August 6 Dembele appeared on the airwaves of a 
local radio station, Radio Kayira, which is owned by SADI and 
known for its reporting on corruption within the Office du 
Niger.  In 2004, after the Office du Niger evicted roughly 
4000 farmers in Niono ostensibly for failing to pay their 
irrigation bills, Radio Kayira advocated acts of civil 
disobedience - a move credited with forcing the Malian 
government to identify alternative land plots for at least 
some of those evicted.  On August 6 Dembele told Radio Kayira 
and its listeners that he would provide SADI's newly elected 
National Assembly Deputies with the remaining documents in 
his possession regarding Office du Niger corruption as soon 
as Mali's Constitutional Court ratified SADI's victory.  On 
August 11 the Court rendered SADI's victory in Niono 
official.  Farmers discovered Dembele's mutilated body in a 
field 5 km from Niono early the next morning. 
 
-------------------------- 
The Whistle Blows For Thee 
-------------------------- 
 
5.(U)  The Office du Niger oversees the irrigation of 
approximately 1 million hectares of government owned land in 
central Mali.  Farmers working Office du Niger land pay 
irrigation fees either with cash or the in-kind equivalent 
which is often kilograms of rice.  Until the 1990s the Office 
du Niger provided local farmers with fertilizers and seeds 
and regulated how harvested products were sold.  Now village 
committees sign contracts with private vendors for 
fertilizer, milling services and the sale of harvested 
products.  While the economic liberalization and land tenure 
improvements of the 1990s resulted in increased rice 
production and better management practices, all is still not 
well within the Office du Niger. 
 
BAMAKO 00001321  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
6.(U)  In 2006 the Malian Verificateur General's (VG) Office, 
which is the only independent agency responsible for 
investigating cases of corruption in Mali, discovered funds 
totaling USD 1 million missing from the Office du Niger's 
books.  More troubling, the VG discovered the missing million 
after looking at only one line item (irrigation payments by 
local farmers) in just one of the Office du Niger's five rice 
growing zones: the 72,000 hectare region of Niono (ref A). 
 
7.(U)  Obviously aware of the VG's pending report, the Malian 
government sacked the Director of the Office du Niger, 
Youssouf Keita, just days before details of the VG's 
investigation were released in 2006.  Authorities in Niono 
also briefly detained three mid-level Office du Niger 
officials.  These individuals were later released and no 
charges were filed.  In July 2007 the scandal in the Office 
du Niger ballooned to USD 15.5 million after the VG released 
a generic overview of its investigation into all the Office 
du Niger's five regions.  The Office du Niger scandal was the 
largest case of corruption investigated by the VG in 
2006-2007 not involving customs duties tied to fuel imports. 
The VG's complete report, however, has not been made public. 
 
 
8.(SBU)  Associates of Youssouf Dembele maintain that 
Dembele, who had once worked at the Office du Niger, played a 
crucial role in passing information to the VG that brought 
the corruption scandal in Niono to light.  Daniel Tessouguet, 
the head of the VG's investigation team in Niono, denied 
working with Dembele.  "All of the farmers in Niono," 
Tessouguet told the Embassy, "know that funds in the Office 
du Niger are not being used properly."  But, Tessouguet 
continued, the VG does not need the assistance of private 
citizens to conduct a financial audit.  Tessouguet refused to 
comment on whether the VG team conducted interviews or used 
statements by locals in Niono to guide their investigations. 
 
9.(SBU)  Despite Tessouguet's denials, SADI leaders in Bamako 
maintain that Dembele met personally with Tessouguet and 
members of his team regarding the finances of the Office du 
Niger.  SADI's Secretary General Oumar Mariko, who was 
elected to the National Assembly in July and is now the 
Chairman of the Assembly's Foreign Affairs Committee, told 
the Embassy that the Verificateur General's office actually 
called him to thank SADI for its collaboration.  "Several 
SADI members," said Mariko, "testified against the Office du 
Niger and delivered documents and now they are all 
threatened." 
 
------------------- 
A Motive for Murder 
------------------- 
 
10.(U)  African political parties are often criticized for 
revolving around personalities rather than policy positions. 
During the 2007 legislative elections, however, Youssouf 
Dembele and SADI crafted a platform that pledged to protect 
small-time farmers exploited by the Office du Niger, local 
government officials and prominent economic operators.  In so 
doing Dembele created a grassroots groundswell and a perfect 
storm of resentment. 
 
11.(U)  Dembele attacked Niono's vested political and 
economic interests.  He accused the Office du Niger of 
over-charging for irrigation fees and keeping phantom 
accounts; local government officials of privileging the 
interests of the Office du Niger over the rights of local 
farmers; and economic operators of selling fertilizer mixed 
with gravel to farmers at marked-up cost.  Most of the 
individuals within these three groups - Office du Niger 
management, local government and the economic sector - belong 
to one of Mali's three largest political parties: the 
Alliance for Democracy in Mali (ADEMA), its off-shoot the 
Union for the Republic and Democracy (URD) and the Mouvement 
Citoyen which is a pseudo-political party dedicated to 
supporting the career of President Toure.  Indeed, the 
businessman accused of selling bad fertilizer also happened 
to be ADEMA's legislative candidate in Niono.  For the 2007 
election cycle ADEMA and the URD joined with the Mouvement 
Citoyen to support President Toure and his interests. 
12.(SBU)  During the second round of legislative voting on 
July 22, SADI's candidates went head to head with a split 
ADEMA-URD ticket.  Oumar Mariko described the legislative 
elections in Niono as "completely staged."  Youssouf Dembele 
and other local SADI leaders denounced what they regarded as 
government sponsored fraud.  "I can still hear his voice 
now," said Mariko, recalling how Dembele decried cases of 
government intimidation, pre-votes, double and triple votes, 
and other misdeeds that occured during the ballot counting 
 
BAMAKO 00001321  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
process within polling stations. 
 
13.(U)  SADI's grassroots organizing and anti-establishment 
platform paid off.  Despite attempts by government officials 
and others to tilt the scales, SADI out-polled the rival 
ADEMA-URD ticket with just under 53 percent of the vote.  As 
SADI waited for the Constitutional Court to ratify nationwide 
election results, Dembele made his August 6 appearance on 
Radio Kayira and hinted that he was prepared to pass more 
material to the Verificateur General. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
Political Assassination, Family Dispute or Both 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
14.(U)  SADI leaders are convinced Dembele's murder was a 
political assassination orchestrated by political opponents 
and abetted by local officials.  Mariko told the Embassy that 
SADI members in Niono no longer believe they are protected by 
local police and that SADI has evacuated at least two 
individuals, including the brother of Youssouf Dembele, to 
Bamako for safety.  Following Dembele's murder, several SADI 
supporters and two journalists for Radio Kayira allegedly 
received threats of various kinds. 
 
15.(U)  Security officials in Niono arrested Youssouf 
Dembele's son, Ousmane Dembele, on August 15 on suspicion of 
murder.  Dembele remains in prison.  In October authorities 
also arrested Alpha Djeneko, who helped organize the ADEMA 
candidate's legislative campaign.  According to an upper 
level official at the Ministry of Justice in Bamako, 
authorities have not uncovered any clues suggesting Dembele's 
death was politically motivated.  The Ministry said 
investigators have not, however, ruled out revenge as a 
motive. 
 
------------------- 
Radio Kayira Closed 
------------------- 
 
16.(U)  On Nov. 4 the Mayor of Niono shut down Radio Kayira 
for advertising unauthorized meetings supposedly intended to 
encourage residents to confront local authorities over the 
stalled murder investigation, and broadcasting the names of 
potential murder suspects.  In a letter addressed to the 
radio station, Mayor Aboubacar Fomba said: "Given the need to 
preserve public peace in the town of Niono, I have decided to 
close Radio Kayira until further notice."  SADI president and 
now former Minister of Culture Sissoko traveled to Niono 
following Radio Kayira's closure to meet with local 
officials. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
Comment: Corruption in the Office du Niger 
------------------------------------------ 
 
17.(SBU)  Until the reforms of the 1990s, Malians used to 
refer to the Office du Niger as a government within the 
government.  While the Office du Niger is no longer 
omnipotent, it still casts a long and often dark shadow over 
those living within Mali's main rice growing regions.  The 
Verificateur General's 2007 report quantified for the first 
time the scale and depth of corruption within the Office du 
Niger.  It is unfortunate that the VG, which is supposedly 
independent from the Malian government, has yet to release 
the full report on the Office du Niger.  Equally unfortunate 
is the Malian judicial system's apparent failure to include 
the Office du Niger file, which is one of the largest 
corruption scandals yet uncovered by the VG, among the 
handful of cases scheduled to be investigated by the 
government's public prosecutor.  The message this sends to 
those living within the Office du Niger zone is that small 
time farmers and peasants remain beholden - whether accurate 
or not - to the interests and apparent impunity of the Office 
du Niger.  The slow pace of the Dembele murder investigation 
and closing of Radio Kayira only reinforce this message. 
McCulley