Three African dictators to face corruption charges abroad

Very corrupt African leaders may no longer have any hiding place as international NGOs are taking a strong interest in their alleged criminal activities.

The leaders of three countries in the CEMAC zone, Omar Bongo of Gabon, Denis Sassou Nguesso of Congo Republic and Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea may soon be answering charges of massive embezzlement in a French court following action taken by international corruption watchdog, Transparency International (TI).
TI’s France chapter Tuesday 2 December filed a suit against the three CEMAC presidents in a French court. The organization wants to force the French justice system to look into how these leaders were able to buy huge properties in France that could not be financed with their official earnings.
“There is no doubt that these assets could not be bought using only the official salaries and benefits of these heads of state,” said TI France, in a statement.
The three men have since over a year now denied accusations from numerous non-governmental groups that they embezzled huge sums of money accruing from the exploitation of oil in their various countries.

Similar accusations have also been levelled against Burkina-Faso’s Blaise Compaoré and Angola’s Eduardo Dos Santos, but anti-corruption campaigners have not gathered enough information to proceed to file a suit against them.

They are however confident that in the case of the three CEMAC leaders, they are on solid ground. TI’s Daniel Lebegue says that following 24 reports by police investigating the wealth of the three leaders, the case now has a “very solid legal basis”.
The campaigners referred to a 2007 French police probe, details of which were leaked to media earlier this year by judicial sources, revealing that Bongo and his relatives owned 39 properties in France, mostly in the rich 16th district of Paris, as well as 70 bank accounts and nine cars. The properties also include luxury villas on the Riviera.
The French police also established that Sassou Nguesso and his family owned 24 apartments and had 112 bank accounts in the country, while Obiang and his relatives had one apartment and eight cars.

Obiang’s son has faced a court case in South Africa over two luxury villas he owns there. Teodoro Obiang Nguema also came under fire from anti-graft campaigners in the United States in 2006 after he acquired a $35 million California beach house.

Meantime, lawyers for Bongo and Sassou Nguesso point out that owning property is not against the law and that the French authorities have no business judging the management of another country’s finances.
Bongo, who came to power in 1967, is Africa’s longest-serving head of state. Sassou Nguesso and Obiang Nguema seized power in their respective countries in coups in 1979. Obiang Nguema has ruled continuously since then, while Sassou Nguesso lost elections in 1992, returning to power in 1997 after a civil war.

Gabon and Congo Republic are former French colonies and successive French presidents have cultivated warm ties with Bongo and Sassou Nguesso. Obiang’s country, Equatorial Guinea, is a former Spanish colony.