Lukong Pius Nyuylime
21 October 2009
Council of Ministers orders arrest of suspects as bank governor faces dismissal.
All the Gabonese civil servants involved in the management scandal detected at the Paris Branch office of the Bank of Central African States (BEAC) and residing in Gabon will be arrested and tried in the country's law courts, Gabon's News Agency, GABONEWS announced yesterday.
This is one of the major decisions that emerged from the first Council of Ministers' meeting chaired by the new President, Ali Bongo Ondimba. The final press statement issued at the end of the council meeting, states inter alia that the governor of the bank has been called back from the bank's headquarters in Yaounde "in view of his replacement." According to GABONEWS, the government deplored the situation at the Paris Branch of the bank, stating its availability to "facilitate investigations by the audit cabinet mandated by the bank as well as investigations by the French financial brigade to which the bank summoned the case."
In order to erase the shame this incident and the once that preceded it, notably the bank's placements which led to the lost of huge amount of money, have caused, Gabon's Council of Ministers called on all the member countries of CEMAC to actively participate in the search for a solution to restore the bank's credibility, GABONEWS said, citing the council of minister's final statement.
The BEAC Monetary Policy Committee meeting scheduled to take place in Yaounde yesterday was postponed to a later date. That notwithstanding, things seem to be moving pretty fast in Gabon. According to Jeune Afrique online, two of the suspects have been arrested by Gabon's police. These, the news organ said, include: Maurice Moutsinga, the bank's former accountant at the Paris office and Armand Ndzamba, Director of Accounting in the Yaounde main office.
Authorities of the Cameroon Ministry of Finance said the decision taken in Gabon is considered as a national responsibility.
The embezzlement case for which suspects are being hunted, was effectively confirmed last September by Philibert Andzembe in an exclusive interview with CT. The difference, he said, was observed on December 31, 2007, following the inconformity between the information in the records from the branch office and the bank statement provided by the Société Générale de Paris, holder of the bank's branch account. The amount stood at CFA 19 billion.
Immediately the incident was reported, the governor of BEAC took measures by mobilizing the bank's internal control organ, the commission of the French audit cabinet reputed for auditing the accounts of the Paris branch, legal authorities and stop gap measures including the appointment of a new branch manager to arrest the situation.
Philibert Andzembe took office as BEAC governor on 06 July, 2007 following the sacking of his predecessor, Jean Felix Mamalepot in respect to the Fort-Lamy agreement.
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