Following the recent wave of arrests, the High Court of Justice is expected to follow suit with the imminent indictment by the National Assembly of around ten ministers who were allegedly singled out by the Court of Auditors’ report on the Covid-19 Response Fund.

The Criminal Investigation Division (DIC) has been working at over 100 km/h over the past 48 hours to unmask those suspected of embezzling money from the Covid-19 Response Fund. Following Monday’s first wave, another group of managers was taken into custody on the orders of the Financial Judicial Prosecutor’s Office for alleged embezzlement of public funds. These include Ousseynou Ngom, the Dage, and Mamadou Ndiaye, Director of Prevention both of the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, the latter was a key figure in the response to the pandemic.

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Among this group are other financial institution executives who are also expected to be brought before the PJF today. These include Moussa Sam Daff, director of the Dalal Jamm Hospital in Guédiawaye; Babacar Sène, director of the Kaffrine Hospital; Alioune Badara Diop, the accountant of the Pikine Hospital; and Lamine Diallo, accountant of the Youssou Mbargane Hospital. Artists caught at the wrong time?

In this Covid-19 case, there is a dance of cultural figures in the air. The animator and cultural entrepreneur Tange Tandian, who is among the suspected cases, was also referred to the Public Prosecutor’s Office for alleged embezzlement of 72 million CFA francs. Former Executive Director of the Senegalese Observatory of Music and Arts (Omart Senegal), one of the managers of funds intended for musicians impacted by Covid-19 due to the suspension of their activities due to restrictive measures such as the ban on gatherings. By submitting signed waivers, he attempted to defend himself, but this did not convince the investigators.

Management of Force Covid funds : More than 10 persons detained

Known for her creative talents, Alimatou Sadiya Guèye, president of the stylists’ association, found herself in the justice system’s crosshairs due to the same concerns. She was referred to court along with Bamba Hamdy (artist and composer), Abdou Aziz Mbaye (traditional communicator), Mamadou Ngom Niang, former director of General Administration and Equipment at the Ministry of Sports, and other public officials arrested Monday.

Their face-to-face meeting with the prosecution dragged on yesterday due to the proposals for criminal mediation submitted by some suspects and the complexities that needed to be unraveled to clarify this case. They obviously provided supporting documents during their hearings, but this wasn’t enough to free them from this closed-door meeting with investigators.

Ministers in the waiting room

In the eyes of some, they are mere scapegoats who should not pay for the big guns. And proceedings will be launched in the coming days before the High Court of Justice, whose composition is already known, against former ministers under Macky Sall at the time of the pandemic. This list includes a dozen former senior ministers, who are expected to be the subject of impeachment proceedings at the National Assembly. While some remained loyal to the former President of the Republic, others have distanced themselves from him by joining other parties or withdrawing from politics.

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The charges against them are of various nature and range, among others, from « failure to justify expenses » or « absence of supporting documents » relating to expenses to « payments without service provided », including « overcharging » for the acquisition of certain products. Not to mention certain cash payments for purchases, which is contrary to the rule in the Public Administration. It should be noted that of the 1000 billion of the Covid-19 fund in question, 628 billion CFA francs were drawn from the public treasury, while 372 billion were tax waiver measures aimed at allowing national private companies to be able to bear the shock of the loss of their economic activities so as not to close down during the Covid-19 period.

The Covid-19 fund was intended to enable the implementation of the Economic and Social Resilience Programme (Pres) in its 4 axes, namely support for the health sector, strengthening the resilience of the population and social cohesion, safeguarding macroeconomic and financial stability, as well as securing the supply and distribution of food, medicines and energy.
By Bocar SAKHO / bsakho@lequotidien.sn

  • Translation by Ndey T. SOSSEH