By Ali Idrissou-Toure
COTONOU, Jul 12 1999 (IPS)

Some 70 billion CFA francs have disappeared from the state coffers in the West African state of Benin in the past three years, a report by a presidential commission has revealed.

One US Dollar is equal to about 550 CFA francs.

The commission, which concluded its investigation on Jul 1, has delivered a batch of dossiers to President Mathieu Kerekou, bearing the acronyms of the ministries suspected to have been involved in the graft. The commission did not provide any details.

But Leontine Idohou, the commission’s vice-president, discloses that 167 files have been compiled, and that the financial losses have amounted to some 70 billion CFA francs.

Local newspapers say suspected legislators and government officials will soon be investigated. However, no names have been mentioned yet.

According to sources close to the commission, the biggest financial discrepancies were found in the books of two major state- owned companies: the National Agricultural Promotion Society (SONAPRA), and the National Petroleum Product Marketing Society (SONACOP), both of which were privatised on June 30.

A half dozen director-generals were dismissed from large, state- owned enterprises between 1997 and 1998 for “bad management”. Those sacked were mainly from SONAPRA and SONACOP.

The 22-member commission, which had five support staff, was charged with probing the graft, beginning from April 9, 1996 to April 19, 1999. This period covers the first three years of Kerekou’s 5-year term presidency.

Kerekou, a former military leader, ruled Benin between 1986 and 1990.

The commission’s mandate was to take stock of all cases of missing funds at all levels of government and the state-controlled enterprises and agencies. Each case will be either submitted to the Council of Discipline, or to the Council of Ministers, or the Justice Department.

The commission was also charged with probing all cases of diverted funds still pending, either as a result of bureaucratic delays, or legal action.

Kerekou pledged during his election campaign to rid Benin of graft.

“My government is ready to get down to the task of checking and finalising all investigated cases of misappropriated funds between April 9, 1996 and April 19, 1999, with a view to instituting legal proceedings against the perpetrators in the appropriate courts”, he said in April.

Despite the fanfare, Beninois have remained sceptical about bringing the suspects to book. Most of those involved in the graft are already, publicly, known. And it is doubtful whether Kerekou will ever follow through on his threats.

This is mainly because none of the commissions he established between 1986 and 1990 had yielded any results. When former President Nicephore Soglo, who ruled Benin between 1990 and 1991, came to power, he, too, promised he would “restitute the property stolen by the grave-diggers of our national economy.”

However, the promise turned out to be a hollow one.

Sceptics believe that pressure from friends and relatives could result in a stifling of the commission’s conclusions, thus weakening the chances to bring the suspects, who siphon funds earmarked for development projects and salary, to justice.

On average, Benin, with a population of about 6 million people, spends 3 billion CFA francs each month to pay the salary of public employees.

The 1999 budget, estimated at some 335 billion francs, has a 100 billion franc deficit. To bridge the gap, the government is seeking assistance from the international banking community.

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