Fuddelsedag

Japp, idag uppnår man den mogna åldern av 57. Ska firas med tårta under eftermiddagen och sedan pilsner och EVE under kvällen.

weooow

God Jul alla utom Reinfeldt och Borg. De kan dra åt helvete.

I have done this, you can do it to. Pic a random wikileaks document and publish it.

This is my contribution.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 DAKAR 000127   

SENSITIVE  SIPDIS  AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE PASS TO AMEMBASSY MALABO   E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/02/18  

TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM KMCA ECON SG SUBJECT: Ambassador Discusses Corruption with Senegalese President   REF: 09 DAKAR 1069   CLASSIFIED BY: Marcia Bernicat, Ambassador, DOS, Exec; REASON:  1.4(B), (D)   ¶1. (U) 

Summary: After nearly two hours of a mostly one-on-one  discussion that included lighter and more tense exchanges,  Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade took the suggestion to  demonstrate tangible steps of fighting corruption. Wade relied on  his standard defense of the fact there have been no cases of  corruption brought to trial in recent years. Despite reports from  the budget inspector's court and the inspector general's office,  there have been no trials of prominent civilian or political  figures since Wade's election in 2000. 

Wade first claimed that: 1)  his political enemies are using the press to make false  accusations, 2) it is difficult to prove corruption exists, and 3)  as President he cannot possibly monitor everything that happens in  his government. He finally acknowledged that it was statistically  impossible for his claims that there is no corruption in Senegal to  be true, and that he needed to address donor concerns regarding  increased corruption in Senegal. Recalling conversations he had  last fall with the Secretary and President Obama, the Ambassador  urged President Wade to help the U.S. continue to help Senegal by  demonstrating through concrete actions a reduction in corruption  levels to avoid any governance-related sanctions. End Summary.    

¶2. (U) Ambassador Bernicat opened the one-on-one conversation with  President Abdoulaye Wade by presenting him with a signed copy of a  photo with Secretary Clinton prior to the signing of the MCC  Compact Agreement in September 2009 and commending his humanitarian  outreach to Haitian earthquake victims. She further praised Wade's  January 21, 2010 announcement to his Counsel of Ministers of the  importance of fighting corruption and that he was open to the  possibility of giving Senegal's Anti-Corruption Commission greater  autonomy. She explained, however, that there was growing concern  in the United States and among Senegal's other donors and the  international community about the increase in corruption in Senegal  and impunity towards it. His recent response to a letter he  received from the new President of MCC, Daniel W. Yohannes,  dismissing the issue, she added, served to underline those  concerns.    

¶3. (U) President Wade responded initially by explaining that it is  difficult to "prove a negative" and that his government does not  seek out cases, absent specific details. It is most important, he  argued, for a government to demonstrate its political will to fight  corruption when it arises, not to go on witch hunts. By way of  example, he acknowledged the European Union had raised concerns  about the sale of land used to fund the construction of the African  Renaissance Monument, but insisted he has satisfied those concerns.  He continued with a detailed explanation regarding why the convoluted sale of public land at different prices was required.  The Ambassador countered that the opaque way in which the land was  sold had lent itself to charges of corruption. (FYI. See reftel -  and note that the EU Resident Representative in Dakar found  President Wade's explanation unconvincing and remains critical of  the land deal. End FYI.)    

4.(U) The Ambassador responded to President Wade's request for  specific cases to pursue by asking about the status of the  forty-nine cases of alleged money laundering that Senegal's  Financial Investigative Unit CENTIF has referred to the State  Prosecutor since 2005, but which have not yet been brought to  trial. Wade initially responded that the GOS did not want to  discourage foreign investments by scrutinizing every money  transfer. Following the Ambassador's brief explanation that cases  brought to CENTIF were part of a well-regulated international  system made more robust in the wake of the discovery of the role  that terrorist financing played in the 9/11 attacks, Wade convoked  both the head of CENTIF, Ngouda Fall Kane, and the new Justice  Minister, El Hadj Amadou Sall, to explain the delay. He demurred  that he could not interfere in another branch of government, but  the Ambassador parried that it was important, given his commitment  to end corruption, to follow such cases closely and help break any  logjams when they occur. As Senegal was the first Francophone  African member to join Egmont in May 2009, it has a special  responsibility to lead by example. Sall confirmed that CENTIF  cases needed to be taken seriously.    

5.(U) Justice Minister Sall, the third person to hold the post in  the last 4 months, had the advantage of inheriting the delays and   DAKAR 00000127 002 OF 003   assured Wade he would investigate the nature of the delays and  resolve them as soon as possible. He also claimed to be pursuing a  number of other corruption cases at the moment and would have some arrests to report shortly. XXXXXXXXXXXX    

¶6. (U) Wade relied only briefly on the argument he used with  President Obama last fall - that his political enemies are inciting  the press to fabricate stories about corruption, but shifted fairly  quickly when the Ambassador asserted that the perception of  widespread corruption has now become a reality that only concrete  actions can effectively address. Another recurring theme  throughout the discussion was that, as President, Wade claimed he  could not possibly know the behavior of every government official.  The Ambassador contended each time that he needed to create an  environment in which it is clear corruption will not be tolerated  and follow through by having those guilty arrested and prosecuted,  highlighting recent years of U.S. assistance to train law  enforcement and judicial authorities in combating money laundering,  corruption, and other transnational crimes. The Ambassador then  argued that corruption is everywhere in the world and that it is  statistically impossible for there to be no cases in Senegal.  Wade, who has an advanced degree in mathematics and statistics,  chuckled and conceded, agreeing that he needed to demonstrate  concrete steps to fight corruption.    

¶7. (U) Finally, citing U.S. legislation which now requires  Secretary Clinton's certification of each country's budget  transparency, the Ambassador urged President Wade to adopt the  Integrated System of Public Financial Management "SIGFIP," a  computer system whose automation of the budget process will  significantly enhance Senegal's fiscal reform efforts by making  public funds fully accountable. Wade assured the Ambassador that  only he had been successful in reducing the backlog of the final  budget review process, but the Ambassador noted that the current  backlog meant Senegal would still not meet the standard of the  legislation. SIGFIP would be a comprehensive and foolproof way to  regulate potential corrupt spending within the ministries.  (Comment: Local World Bank officials have promised to pass summary  information on SIGFIP to Wade. End Comment)    

¶8. (SBU) Tellingly, President Wade ended the discussion by abruptly  asking for assurances that the U.S. Government would not deny  Senegal the MCC Compact at this point, given its focus on improving  conditions of the country's poorest. Ambassador Bernicat explained  to him that development assistance was targeted for a country's  most needy; MCC Compacts were reserved for the developing world's  best performers. She stressed that legislation requires that  continued declines in measures of good governance, corruption, or  other indicators would result in Senegal losing its Compact, as  could other egregious acts that meet with Congressional  appropriators' disapproval. That would be especially true of  corruption, she added, reminding him that some Members of Congress  had expressed their concerns at the time the Compact was signed.    

¶9. (SBU) This meeting closely followed discussions in which the  European Union Representative, the DCM, and Ambassador made similar  points to President Wade's son, Karim, the Minister for  International Cooperation, Land Use, Air Transport and  Infrastructure. The Ambassador also briefed a group of core donors  (France, Spain, Germany, Holland, Canada, European Union, World  Bank, and, for the first time in a group setting, China) following  a series of individual meetings to compare notes (as is customary)  and report on actions to counter corruption in Senegal. The group  agreed to continue to place pressure on the Wade administration  constructively, in part, by drawing on a common set of talking  points condemning corruption to raise the level of intolerance for  it in this pre-election season.    

¶10. (C) Comment: Several actions (reported septel) taken prior to  or following this discussion suggest to the hopeful that President  Wade is finally taking steps to curb corruption, but post believes  he will walk a fine line between taking these steps and continuing   DAKAR 00000127 003 OF 003    to allow those used to helping themselves to government funds to do  so to ensure their loyalties remain intact. The striking  similarities of the father and son on this issue suggest the two  continue to underestimate the importance of this issue to the  donors and, increasingly, to the electorate. It also suggests that  they continue to work in concert toward preparing the way for a  presidential dynastic succession rather than, as some speculate,  that Karim Wade was undermining a father increasingly sidelined by  his own political missteps of the last few months. President Wade,  who reportedly is more frequently frail and distracted, was robust  and in command of the subject matter throughout the nearly two-hour  discussion. End comment.  SMITH