Navy story.indd - Mars Group Kenya Publications

Anglo 

Leasing 

Anglo Anglo Leasing Leasing 

Anglo Leasing Contracts 

The NAVY 

SHIP Deal 

www.marsgroupkenya.org 

OSIEA 

Asking the Tough Questions 

about The GG Kariuki Report 

on The Kenya Navy Ship Contract

The Navy Ship Deal 

Asking the Tough Questions 

about The GG Kariuki Report 

on The Kenya Navy Ship Contract 

A Mars Group Publication 

©2007. All Rights Reserved 

OSIEA 


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contents 

Part 1 

Analysis By Mars Group Pg. 4 

Part 2 

Media Reports Pg. 9 

Part 3 

Supporting Documents Pg. 14 

2 

www.marsgroupkenya.org OSIEA


Asking the Tough Questions about 

The GG Kariuki Report On The Kenya 

Navy Ship Contract 

Mr. G. G. Kariuki 

Chairman, Parliamentary 

Departmental Committee for 

Defence and Foreign Relations 

On July 15th 2003, the Government of Kenya (represented by the Treasury 

and Ministry of Defence) entered into a contract with Euromarine Industries 

by which Euromarine would deliver an oceanographic survey vessel to 

the Kenya Navy for close to Ksh 4.6 billion. The contract features as one of the 18 

contentious security related contracts colloquially described as Anglo Leasing type. 

On the same day, two financing contracts were also entered into with two Spanish 

firms. At some point, Euromarine sub-contracted the ship’s construction to another 

Spanish firm known as Astilleros Gondan. 

Payments on this contract were stopped in June 2005, following the earlier 

intervention of John Githongo, former Permanent Secretary for Governance and 

Ethics in the Office of the Kenya President. Euromarine was then reported to have 

instituted legal action against the Government of Kenya for the withheld payments 

on the navy ship – derogatorily called “Kenya’s Spanish Armada” by a former British 

High Commissioner to Kenya, Edward Clay. The withheld payments have generated 

political pressure on the Treasury including, according to John Githongo’s Report to 

President Kibaki of November 2005, direct requests to him by the former Ministers 

for Justice and Internal Security (Kiraitu Murungi and Chris Murungaru). The ship 

deal remains cloaked in mystery and has been the subject of an extraordinary press 

statement by Chris Murungaru in which he names the President as the substantive 

Minister for Defence and categorically states that no such procurement could 

have been undertaken without President Kibaki’s authorization, which was given 

according to Dr. Murungaru in June 2003. The navy ship contract is also listed as 

one of the 18 security related Anglo Leasing type contracts by the Controller and 

Auditor General (April 2006), the Parliamentary Accounts Committee (march 2006) 

and the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs (September 2006). 

KACC is still, of course, conducting the investigations it started in 2004, 

though its Director Justice Ringera told the committee that as of 

September 2006 the “international investigation was not complete.” Since 

January 2007, Treasury has also been waiting for a report on this contract 

by international audit firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Nevertheless, the 

controversy surrounding this contract prompted the Parliamentary 

Departmental Committee for Defence and Foreign Relations to intervene 

and undertake its own limited inquiry into the naval ship contract. The 

inquiry included a 4-day fact finding visit (September 25 – 28 2006) to 

dockyards in Spain and meetings with Euromarine Industries, the Head 

of the Kenyan public service, senior officials from Treasury, Kenya’s 

Embassy in France (which covers Spain) and the Kenya Anti Corruption 

Commission. The report of the inquiry tabled by the Chairman of the 

departmental committee, G.G. Kariuki, and adopted by Parliament on 

May 2nd 2007, claims to have confirmed the existence of the ship docked 

at Ribadeo, Spain and apparently already christened “Jasiri Mombasa”. 

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Dr. Chris Murungaru, 

former Ministers for 

Internal Security 

Mr. Kiraitu Murungi, 

former Minister for 

Justice 

Mr. Kiraitu Murungi, 

former Ethics and 

Governance Permanent 

Secretary 

The Kenyan 

Parliament Buildings 

The report, adopted by Parliament on May 2nd 2007, runs to only 13 pages including 

an executive summary, and has one annex containing 6 photographs of 4 members 

of the departmental committee on what we are told is the ship Kenya is meant to pay 

for, and take delivery of. 

Mr. Kariuki and his team make three broad recommendations: 

First of all it recommends that the Government submit to the International Arbitration 

Court; secondly it recommends the appointment by the Government of Kenya of an 

independent survey of the value of the project; and thirdly, it recommends that the 

Government decide whether or not it wishes to terminate the contract and take the 

required action. 

While we await the imminent report of PriceWaterhouseCoopers on the 18 Anglo 

Leasing type security contracts, we would like to point out but a few of the gaping 

holes in this report. A reading of the departmental committee’s report reveals several 

curious facts and consequent questions that require answers from G.G. Kariuki and 

his parliamentary colleagues: 

1. The departmental committee did not meet with the Attorney General at all. 

It did not scrutinize the legal and financial contracts which purportedly legitimize 

the demands for payment being made by Euromarine for the procurement of the 

ship they believe they visited. Why 

2. Although the committee says it “took upon itself the responsibility to establish 

the truth regarding allegations of irregular procurement of a naval ship for the Kenya 

Navy” it does not assess the procurement process at all save to note that there was 

a contract dated July 15th 2003 between the Government of Kenya and Euromarine 

Industries, a Spanish registered firm, and a sub-contract between Euromarine and 

Astilleros Gondan, a Spanish ship builder based in Ribadeo, Spain, the venue of the 

committee’s visit. Wouldn’t the appropriate place to start its inquiry be a review of 

whether or not the procurement law was followed as regards sub-contracting More 

fundamentally, was the committee not curious as to why the ship was being bought 

through an intermediary, broker or middleman What value did Euromarine brings 

to this deal 

3. The committee held discussions with officials representing Euromarine but 

not with the ship builder, Astilleros Gondan. In fact the website of Astilleros Gondan 

does not list Jasiri Mombasa or indeed any Kenyan vessels in its list of ships built 

between 1969 and 2006. How does the committee explain this curious omission 

4 



4. Lt. Col P. Kituku, the Kenyan naval officer who was said to be supervising 

the ship’s construction told the committee that “he had been appointed to oversee 

the ship’s construction in 2002 by the Defence Council and arrived at the Astilleros 

Gondan’s shipyard in Spain in January 2002.” While moving the motion of adoption 

of the report, the chairman G.G. Kariuki, confirms these dates when he said“The navy 

officer arrived in Spain in January 2002.”This is very strange because the contract for 

the ship was only signed on July 15th 2003, and if we are to believe Dr. Murungaru, 

the former Minister of State, presidential authorization was only given in June 2003. 

What was he doing in Spain even before the tender that was said to have been 

floated on September 11th 2002 Is it not noteworthy to the committee that the 

KACC took statements from the then Chief of General Staff, General Kibwana and 

the top naval brass as far back as June 2005 

5. The same officer also told the committee that “through Euromarine, 

Astilleros Gondan had been contracted by GOK to build other marine vessels in the 

past. For instance he mentioned the two logistic ships delivered in 1993; five inshore 

patrol boats delivered in 1994; and two offshore patrol boats delivered in 1996, all of 

which are still in service to date.” Is this really true As noted above, Astilleros Gondan 

does not claim to have built any vessels for Kenya and in fact was only registered as 

a defence exporter by the Spanish government in September 2005 (more than two 

years after the contentious contract was signed). 

6. Though the committee “was informed by Euromarine and the Kenyan 

supervising naval officer Lt. Col P. Kituku, that the ship is practically over 90 per cent 

complete” and that funds permitting it can be completed in another two months, 

the ship has no weaponry at all and that Euromarine was not responsible for arming 

the vessel at all. The G.G. Kariuki committee was told by a Mr. Salvador Surroca 

Vineta, that “the GOK would have to sign a new contract with arms manufacturers 

to fit its desired weaponry system.”Nevertheless the committee claims that the ship 

is already equipped with a satellite communications system while dryly noting that 

“only parts of the oceanographic vessel’s survey equipment have been installed 

to date.” Recall that the primary function of this ship is to conduct oceanographic 

surveys. The clincher to us was the offer by Euromarine that “if GOK expressed 

interest in the ship, Euromarine would negotiate the terms with suppliers for a 

new arrangement” because as they helpfully pointed out the warranties for various 

pieces of equipment already installed on Jasiri Mombasa “have since expired.” Mr. 

Sorroca then “confided that his firm had received queries on the ship from at least 

three governments including Indonesia, Thailand and Philippines.” The committee 

followed this by expressing “satisfaction with the physical 

structure and state of the ship.” How can the committee have 

been satisfied with such a scenario, in which Kenya is being 

asked to pay Ksh 4.6 billion for a ship for our navy which for 

all intents and purposes is merely a steel hulk with out-ofwarranty-equipment 

and no guns 

7. Much was made by Euromarine of its desire to 

forego already commenced arbitration proceedings at the 

“Permanent International Court of Arbitration in the Hague”, 

and to resolve the matter amicably. Incredibly, the committee 

did not broach the issue of the allegations of unlawful and 

corrupt procurement which have been raised by former 

Permanent Secretary for Governance and Ethics, John 

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Githongo and the serious procedural queries raised by the Controller and 

Auditor General in his special audit report of April 2006. Why 

8. The committee did not seem to use any prior inquiries into this contract 

in conducting its inquiry. It makes no mention of the KACC investigation of 

Euromarine and its co-financiers. It makes no mention of the reports by the 

Public Accounts Committee, the Controller and Auditor General or the Githongo 

report. did not speak to the Controller and Auditor General or John Githongo. 

It is written without context and worryingly relies as its primary source of 

information, on the officials of the contractor whom they were meant to be 

inquiring into. Why was the committee so determined to ignore the concerns 

raised by prior official reports, and to urge the Government to renegotiate or 

submit to international arbitration 

9. Further no attempt was made by the committee, or none is mentioned, 

to make contact with the alleged financiers of this Ksh 4.6 billion ship (Navigia 

Capital and Impressas de Financas). There is no mention of any inquiries made 

of Credit Lyonais Bank which is listed as the creditor to the Government of 

Kenya in the External Public Debt Register. Why was the committee ignoring 

the financing and debt aspect of the ship they visited 

10. Finally, the committee is under the misapprehension, possibly 

because of a confusion arising from whom it talked to, coupled with its not 

calling for the contract itself, that the naval ship contract “was signed before the 

current Government came to power.” This is what GG Kariuki told Parliament 

on April 26th 2007 as he asked the House to adopt his report. It is untrue. The 

contract was signed on July 15th 2003. Why is Mr. Kariuki under such a false 

impression Why does he say to Parliament that the construction started in 

March 2003, more than 3 months before the contract was signed What exactly 

is going on 

11. As he moved the motion for adoption of the report, GG Kariuki also 

told Parliament that “the committee was assured that this ship was inspected 

according to the international standards by Kenya and Lloyd’s specifications 

and other international marine standards.” Why then does the report reflect a 

different position on page 10 The committee was clearly told that “acceptance 

trials with inspectors from Lloyd’s Registers and Kenya Navy personnel would 

be conducted once outstanding issues are settled.” 

12. The report attracted media attention, prior to its adoption by 

Parliament, when it was produced in court on March 20th 2007 by lawyers Fred 

Ngatia and Kioko Kilukumi before Justice Emukule. The duo argued, for their 

respective clients, Euromarine Industries, Pritpal Thethy and Andrew Burnard, 

that the Kenya Anti Corruption Commission had no basis for continuing to 

investigate them over the Ksh 4.6 billion navy ship contract as the same had 

been cleared by Parliament. How did the report come into the possession of 

these lawyers 

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In Parliament on May 2nd 2007, GG Kariuki berated the navy for not treating 

Euromarine better, for not taking possession of the ship, and of course for not 

paying up. He feels that Euromarine “has been very reasonable to Kenya” and 

further “the Government should immediately enter into an agreement with the 

consulting company and settle what they owe.” Our view is diametrically opposed 

to this. Until Kenyans are sure that the law was not broken, and that this ship is 

worth what we have collectively been billed for it, the Government must not pay 

another shilling to Euromarine or anyone else in relation to these 3 contracts. What 

we expect of legislators, including GG Kariuki, is to hear their unequivocal demands 

of government for the speedy conclusion of the real investigations and not using 

his committee’s flimsy report to clear any party and prejudice the Kenyan position. 

Kenyans need to be clearly told what their financial obligation is and when it will be 

ended. The external public debt register puts our current obligation at Ksh 4.6 billion 

payable with 4.8% interest between July 2003 and July 2010. 

The GG Kariuki report, in short, provides no basis whatsoever for clearing any of the 

public officers and commercial entities involved in this deal.It is of little use in assessing 

whether Kenya will get, if it takes delivery of the ship, value for money. The committee 

itself admits its lack of capacity to make such determinations as it recommends at 

the end of the report that “GOK should consider having an independent surveyor to 

undertake the naval ship’s inspection and evaluation of works and services done.” The 

committee considers that such an evaluation would provide the basis for responding 

to the case allegedly filed by Euromarine at The Hague and negotiations with those 

who hold us in their debt to the tune of Ksh 4.6 billion. 

Mars Group Kenya invites readers to carefully scrutinize this report. It reveals more 

than has ever been in the public domain about this contract and the manner in which 

it has been dealt with by the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary. Our analysis of the 

Hansard of that day is that there will be in the near future a determined effort to use 

parliament and its committees to clear the 18 Anglo Leasing type contracts, including 

for example the “communication centre for the armed forces” also known as Project 

Nexus. Kenyans beware. No less than 4 MPs urged the departmental committees to 

do so, and Mr. Kariuki said “as Dr. Murungaru has said, the time has come when we 

should go and investigate all the 18 projects which have been giving us a very bad 

image internationally.” 

OSIEA 


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Part 2 


mediamentions 

8 



Anglo Leasing - Now Five Ministers Defend Kibaki 

Daily Nation, Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - Page 1, News 

Five Cabinet ministers made fresh promises to deal conclusively with high-level corruption "in the 

coming days" and defended President Kibaki from accusations of wrongdoing. 

Read More 

Anglo Leasing - Police Quiz Tycoon Kamani 

Daily Nation, Tuesday, May 24, 2005 - Page 1, News 

Police investigating the Anglo Leasing scandal have finally questioned one of the key men mentioned 

in connection with the affair. 

Read More 

Anglo Leasing Probe Report To Be Tabled In Parliament 

Daily Nation, Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - Page 4, News 

MPs will today table their findings on the Sh7 billion Anglo Leasing Scandal. 

Read More 

Anglo Leasing, What Does Kibaki Know 

East African Standard, Saturday, February 18, 2006 - Page 1, News 

The Public Accounts Committee is in possession of "explosive" evidence likely to rock the Kibaki 

Presidency further. 

Read More 

Anti-Graft Squad Visits Navy Chiefs 

East African Standard, Thursday, June 23, 2005 - Page 1, News 

Anti-graft investigators probing the controversial purchase of two naval ships for Sh4.1 billion met 

the Commander of the Kenya Navy and his deputy for two consecutive days this month. 

Read More 

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Awori Leads List Of Leaders To Be Quizzed By MPs 

Daily Nation, Tuesday, February 14, 2006 - Page 4, News 

Vice-President Moody Awori is among senior Government leaders likely to be summoned by the 

parliamentary watchdog committee now visiting London over the Anglo Leasing scandal. 

Read More 

Businessmen Mentioned In Report 

Daily Nation, Friday, March 31, 2006 - Page 3, News 

The Public Accounts Committee names seven businessmen as key people linked to companies 

involved. 

Read More 

Clay Was Selective With Information 

Daily Nation, Saturday, February 19, 2005 - Page 9, Commentary 

After pondering over the attacks levelled on the Office of the President in general and the Ministry 

of National Security in particular by the British High Commissioner Sir Edward Clay, I have 

concluded that the envoy has been short on substance and long on generalities. 

Read More 

Corrupt Im Mr Clean, Says Minister Over Security Deals 

Daily Nation, Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - Page 1, News 

New Transport minister Chris Murungaru yesterday came out fighting against accusations that he is 

corrupt, declaring himself to be completely clean. 

Read More 

10 



Crack In The Cabinet Over Anglo Leasing 

Daily Nation, Sunday, January 29, 2006 - Page 1, News 

A major fallout in Government over the Anglo Leasing Affair is threatening the survival of President 

Kibaki is barely two-month old Cabinet following astonishing revelations of mega corruption. 

Read More 

Defiant Murungaru Grilled On Sh18b Deals 

East African Standard, Friday, March 03, 2006 - Page 18, News 

Former Cabinet minister Dr Chris Murungaru was on Thursday grilled for three hours over Sh18 

billion security tenders awarded under his watch. 

Read More 

Fresh Scam In Military Over Sh10b Radio Tender 

East African Standard , Wednesday, November 09, 2005 - Page 1, News 

The Department of Defence is grappling with fresh claims of high-level procurement malpractices, 

which have forced the suspension of a Sh10 billion tender. 

Read More 

Githongo’s Secret Tape On Kiraitu Aired By BBC 

Daily Nation, Thursday, February 09, 2006 - Page 1, News 

A copy of an audio tape which appears to show Cabinet minister Kiraitu Murungi trying to impede a 

corruption investigation was last night broadcast to the world by the BBC. 

Read More 

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House Approves Payment For Naval Ship Deal 

Daily Nation, Friday, May 04, 2007 - Page 9, News 

MPs approved payment for the naval ship which the Government had contracted a Spanish 

company to build. 

Read More 

House Team To Ask Githongo About Other Corrupt Deals 


Parliaments Public Accounts Committee leaves today for London to interview anti-corruption czar 

John Githongo on what he knows about graft in the last three years. 

Read More 

How Key Ministers Tried To Cover Up Cash Scandal 

Daily Nation, Monday, January 23, 2006 - Page 1, News 

Cabinet ministers made spirited efforts to try to stop investigations into Anglo Leasing-type 

scandals, warning the probe could bring down President Mwai Kibaki’s Government 

Read More 

Kibaki Sends Awori To Anglo Leasing Meeting 

East African Standard, Friday, January 27, 2006 - Page 1, News 

President Kibaki attended the burial of former Provincial Commissioner Isaiah Mathenge on 

Thursday, leaving Vice-President Moody Awori to chair a Cabinet meeting on the Sh7 billion Anglo 

Leasing scandals. 

Read More 

12 



Kimunya Refutes Claims On Anglo Leasing 

East African Standard, Thursday, May 03, 2007 - Page 1, News 

The Government sought to lay to rest the Anglo Leasing ghost, with a denial in Parliament that there 

were outstanding promissory notes tied to the multi-billion shilling scam. 

Read More 

Kimunya Taken To Task Over Contracts 

Kenya Times, Thursday, May 03, 2007 - Page w, News 

THE multi-billion Anglo Leasing scandal took a new twist yesterday with the government declaring 

it had withheld all the six promissory notes and suspended payments to the contracted fictitious 

foreign companies. 

Read More 

Military Spending Shrouded In Secrecy 

East African Standard, Tuesday, July 26, 2005 - Page 12, Editorial 

Stories about corruption apparently won’t die off. Just when the authorities hoped that the Anglo 

Leasing scandal was slowly getting off the minds of Kenyans, the Kenya Anti- Corruption 

Commission started investigating suspect tenders at the Department of Defence. 

Read More 

Members Endorse Naval Ship Contract 

East African Standard, Thursday, May 03, 2007 - Page 14, News 

Parliament has endorsed payment for the naval ship contract between the Kenya Government and 

Euromarine of Spain, noting that the deal is not part of the Anglo Leasing scandal. 

Read More 

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Minister Fails to Respond 

Daily Nation, Thursday, July 28, 2005 - Page 2, News 

Attempts by the Nation to get a comment from the Transport minister were fruitless as he was held 

up in a meeting in his office. Nation journalists camped at his office for close to three hours to no 

avail. 

Read More 

Ministers Defend Kibaki Against Graft Claims 

East African Standard, Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - Page 1, News 

Five ministers rushed to the defence of President Kibaki over the raging Anglo Leasing graft claims 

in a new bid to restore the Governments credibility. 

Read More 

Murungaru Banned From The UK 

Daily Nation, Thursday, July 28, 2005 - Page 1, News 

Transport minister Chris Murungaru has been banned from the United Kingdom – and from 

travelling through any of its airports. 

Read More 

Murungaru Grilled For Four Hours 


Former Cabinet minister Chris Murungaru was yesterday questioned for four hours over his role in 

security contracts which have raised claims of corruption. 

Read More 

14 



Murungaru Presided Over Rot At Security Ministry 

East African Standard, Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - Page 3, News 

Like a shooting star that suddenly bubbles with energy and burns itself out, Dr Chris Murungaru’s 

rise to power was as swift as his demotion. 

Read More 

Mwiraria Criticized Over Tender 

Daily Nation, Wednesday, July 06, 2005 - Page 19, News 

An Opposition MP accused the Government of irregularly extending the contract of a Nairobi-based 

international currency printing firm. 

Read More 

Naval Ship Probe Moves To DoD 

East African Standard, Monday, July 25, 2005 - Page 1, News 

Army chief General Joseph Kibwana was last week visited by anti-graft director Justice Aaron 

Ringera over the Sh4.6 billion naval controversial ship tender. 

Read More 

New Scandal Hangs Over Sh2.6b Secret Army Complex 

East African Standard, Friday, February 10, 2006 - Page 4, News 

A new scandal now surrounds the construction of Nexus, a secret military communication centre in 

Karen, Nairobi. 

Read More 

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New Sh96m Probe Into Anglo Leasing Deals 

Daily Nation, Thursday, April 26, 2007 - Page 1, News 

The Government has hired an international audit firm for Sh96 million to carry out a fresh 

investigation into the nearly 20 Anglo Leasing-type contracts worth Sh54 billion. 

Read More 

No Talks On Dubious Deals, Says AG 

Daily Nation, Wednesday, November 01, 2006 - Page 7, News 

The Attorney-General has denied lobbying to have billions of shillings released by the Government 

for Anglo Leasing-type contracts. 

Read More 

Now Military Probed Over Sh4bn Naval Ship Deal 

Daily Nation, Monday, May 02, 2005 - Page 1, News 

Fresh investigations have been launched into the procurement of a naval ship worth a staggering 

Sh4.1 billion by the Department of Defence (DoD). 

Read More 

PAC Targets Ship Deal 

East African Standard, Monday, March 06, 2006 - Page 7, News 

THE Public Accounts Committee (PAC) wants authority from President Kibaki to investigate the 

Sh4.2 billion naval ship deal. 

Read More 

16 



PAC To Resume Probe Into Sh7b Scandals 

East African Standard, Monday, February 27, 2006 - Page 4, News 

The Parliamentary Accounts Committee is expected to resume investigations into the Sh7 billion 

Anglo Leasing scandals on Monday. 

Read More 

PAC Yet To Get Kibaki Consent On Murungaru 

Daily Nation, Wednesday, March 08, 2006 - Page 24, News 

President Kibaki is yet to authorise a parliamentary watchdog committee to question a former 

minister over the Sh5.17 billion naval ship deal. 

Read More 

Plan By UK To Block Corrupt Ministers 

East African Standard, Monday, February 14, 2005 - Page 1, News 

Ministers and businessmen implicated in corruption could be barred from visiting the United 

Kingdom in the latest pressure on President Kibaki to act on graft ravaging his Government. 

Read More 

President Approved Navy Ship Deal, Says Murungaru 

Daily Nation, Monday, January 30, 2006 - Page 1, News 

Sh4.1 billion Naval ship deal at the centre of Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) 

investigations was expressly authorised by President Kibaki in June 2003, it was revealed yesterday. 

Read More 

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Revealed - Secrets Of Sh58 Billion Deals 

Daily Nation, Thursday, April 20, 2006 - Page 1, News 

The Government finally owned up yesterday and revealed the secrets of the 18 Anglo Leasing-type 

projects, which had by last June already cost taxpayers Sh17.5 billion. 

Read More 

Revealed - Sh40bn Contracts In Clays Dossier 

Daily Nation, Wednesday, February 16, 2005 - Page 1, News 

The deals contained in the dossier presented to President Kibaki by British High Commissioner 

Edward Clay amounted to more than Sh40 billion, the Nation can disclose. 

Read More 

Ship Deal Made Githongo To Resign, Says Report 


A letter stopping payment of a questionable navy patrol boat lay behind the resignation of 

Permanent Secretary John Githongo, a report says. 

Read More 

Should We Clap As Clay Insults Us 

Kenya Times, Thursday, February 10, 2005 - Page 13, Features 

THE United Kingdom High Commissioner Sir Edward Clay is once again at the center of the news. 

Read More 

18 



State Demands Explanation Over Ministers Travel Ban 

East African Standard, Wednesday, August 03, 2005 - Page 16, News 

The Government yesterday wrote to the British High Commission over the travel ban on Transport 

minister Chris Murungaru. 

Read More 

Stop The Circus On Anglo Leasing Fraud 

East African Standard, Wednesday, September 20, 2006 - Page 6, Commentary 

The Anglo Leasing scandal simply refuses to go away. And this time it is back with a vengeance. 

Read More 

Storm Over Sh360m Army Chopper Deal 

East African Standard, Tuesday, August 09, 2005 - Page 1, News 

Sharp divisions have occurred among military top brass over a controversial helicopter-servicing 

contract between the Kenya Air Force and a South African firm. 

Read More 

Tell Us The Whole Truth Dr Murungaru 

The People Daily, Saturday, February 26, 2005 - Page 7, News 

THIS write up is in response to the article entitled Why Clay didn’t tell the whole truth by Hon Dr 

Chris Murungaru - now, minister for transport. 

Read More 

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The 18 Anglo Leasing Projects Had By June Cost Taxpayers Sh17.5b 

East African Standard, Friday, September 22, 2006 - Page 3, News 

The Anglo Leasing scandal is alleged to have started when the Government wanted to replace its 

passport printing system with a sophisticated, state-of- the-art one, in 2002. 

Read More 

Time To Call Kibaki To Account 

East African Standard, Sunday, February 19, 2006 - Page 10, Editorial 

No problem can be solved from the same consciousness that created it. Yet this is exactly what 

Kenyans are attempting to do by looking up to President Mwai Kibaki to walk them to nirvana. 

Read More 

UK Ban Infuriates Transport Minister 

East African Standard, Saturday, July 30, 2005 - Page 1, News 

Transport Minister Dr Chris Murungaru yesterday reacted angrily to the decision by the United 

Kingdom to ban him from stepping on its soil and blamed it on the loss of lucrative contracts by 

British firms. 

Read More 

20 



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Part 3 


Supporting Documents 

1. 

Report of The Fact Finding Visit to The Kingdom of Spain to 

Inspect Oceanographic Survey Vessel 

2. 

Vessels built by Astilleros Gondan 

3. 

Africa Confidential 

4. 

Murungaru Undated Memorandum 

5. 

Kenya Navy Jasiri - Mombasa.pdf 

22 



Supporting Document 1 

Report of The Fact Finding 

Visit to The Kingdom of Spain 

to Inspect Oceanographic 

Survey Vessel. 

OSIEA 


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Part 3 



Vessels built by Astilleros 

Gondan 

24 


List of Vessels Built by Astilleros Gondan 1969 – 2006 

http://www.gondan.com/ingles/principal.htm 

NAME TYPE TONNAGE YEAR OWNER COUNTRY 

SEGUNDO RIO SIL WET FISH TRAWLER 167,20 TRB 1969 FEDERICO CHAS Y OTROS SPAIN 

EDUARDO 

PONDAL 

WET FISH TRAWLER 340,97 TRB 1970 MANUEL CASTIÑEIRAS Y OTROS SPAIN 

PROINSA UNO WET FISH TRAWLER 169,20 TRB 1970 PROMOTORA INDUSTRIAL SADENSE SPAIN 

NUEVO 

EBENEZER 

WET FISH TRAWLER 186,93 TRB 1970 PESQUERIAS AREA, S.A. SPAIN 

PLAYA DEL CON WET FISH TRAWLER 186,39 TRB 1970 CANDIDO PENA FREIRE SPAIN 

TERCERO RIO SIL WET FISH TRAWLER 213,86 TRB 1971 FEDERICO CHAS Y OTROS SPAIN 

RIO OITAVEN WET FISH TRAWLER 206,97 TRB 1971 JOSE MARTINEZ PEREZ SPAIN 

ESPERANZA 

NOVO 

WET FISH TRAWLER 250,12 TRB 1971 O. RODRIGUEZ NOVO Y OTROS SPAIN 

MONTURIOL WET FISH TRAWLER 143,00 TRB 1971 AQUILINO GONZALEZ Y OTROS. SPAIN 

PLAYA 

BENQUERENCIA 

WET FISH TRAWLER 234,24 TRB 1971 COOP. PLAYA DE BENQUERENCIA SPAIN 

OSADO WET FISH TRAWLER 213,76 TRB 1971 ELISEO GLEZ. BASANTA Y OTROS SPAIN 

XEITOSO FREEZING TRAWLER 282,76 TRB 1972 JOSE GUZMAN CADAVID Y OTROS SPAIN 

PIMAR WET FISH TRAWLER 210,02 TRB 1972 PESQUERA PIMAR, S.L. SPAIN 

IGNACIA MARIA WET FISH TRAWLER 313,96 TRB 1972 PESQUERA SENABRE, S.L. SPAIN 

NIÑO DO CORVO WET FISH TRAWLER 241,89 TRB 1972 ROGELIO IGLESIAS Y OTROS SPAIN 

CHIRLEU WET FISH TRAWLER 209,04 TRB 1998 GONFER, S.A. SPAIN 

CARAVEL FREEZING TRAWLER 291,75 TRB 1972 JOSE GUZMAN CADAVID Y OTROS SPAIN 

TAMARIT FREEZING TRAWLER 309,61 TRB 1972 PESQUERA DEL TAMARIT, S.A. SPAIN 

MONTE FARIÑO HULL (FREEZING TRAWL FISHING) - TRB 1973 PETITSOL, S.A. SPAIN 

ANA MARIA 

GANDON 

FISHING STERN TRAWLER 358,11 TRB 1973 WENCESLAO GANDON CASAL SPAIN

PUXEIROS FREEZING TRAWLER 297,61 TRB 1973 PESQUERIAS MOLARES, S.A. SPAIN 

ADISKIDE FREEZING TRAWLER 269,50 TRB 1973 ADISKIDE, S.L. SPAIN 

GOIERRI FREEZING TRAWLER 268,49 TRB 1973 GOIERRI, S.L. SPAIN 

AREASA DOS WET FISH TRAWLER 205,15 TRB 1973 PESQUERIAS AREA, S.A. SPAIN 

TRUEIRO FREEZING TRAWLER 264,84 TRB 1973 JOSE GUZMAN CADAVID Y OTROS SPAIN 

PLAYA DE 

RODEIRA 

FREEZING TRAWLER 218,29 TRB 1973 EUGENIO GONZALEZ MARTINEZ SPAIN 

BAHIA DEL CON FREEZING TRAWLER 237,37 TRB 1973 PENABAL, S.A. -CÁNDIDO PENA SPAIN 

SANTA MARTA WET FISH TRAWLER 287,39 TRB 1973 PESQUERA SENABRE, S.L. SPAIN 

ARI-EDER FREEZING TRAWLER 295,41 TRB 1973 PESQUERAS ARI-EDER, S.A. SPAIN 

AIRIÑOS WET FISH TRAWLER 231,23 TRB 1973 JOSE GUZMAN CADAVID Y OTROS SPAIN 

OTZ-ARI FREEZING TRAWLER 295,41 TRB 1974 OTZ-ARI, S.A. SPAIN 

VIRGEN DE 

COVADONGA 

WET FISH TRAWLER 193,87 TRB 1974 C.PROD. PESQUERA V.COVADONGA SPAIN 

JUANCHO FREEZING TRAWLER 288,40 TRB 1974 LUIS PAZOS CAEIRO Y OTROS. SPAIN 

PLAYA DE MOGOR FISHING STERN TRAWLER 493,10 TRB 1974 PESQUERIAS MARINENSES, S.A. SPAIN 

MONTE 

CONFURCO 

FISHING STERN TRAWLER 498,00 TRB 1974 PESQUERIAS MOLARES, S.A. SPAIN 

PENA BURELA WET FISH TRAWLER 213,50 TRB 1974 RAMON FDEZ. GONZALEZ Y OTROS SPAIN 

ERMITA DE SAN 

ROQUE 

WET FISH TRAWLER 194,32 TRB 1974 C.PROD.PESQ. ERMITA S.ROQUE SPAIN 

LAXE DOS PICOS FISHING STERN TRAWLER 356,33 TRB 1974 ANTONIO VAQUEIRO GANDON SPAIN 

SIN 

COMENTARIOS 

JOSE, LUISA Y 

MARY 

FREEZING TRAWLER 222,57 TRB 1974 JOSE CURRAS ALONSO SPAIN 

WET FISH TRAWLER 223,30 TRB 1974 FAUSTINO LAGE PUMAR Y OTROS SPAIN 

JOMAR WET FISH TRAWLER 246,57 TRB 1974 JOSE RAMON FERRADAS Y OTROS SPAIN 

MONTE 

GALIÑEIRO 

FISHING STERN TRAWLER 513,16 TRB 1975 PESQUERIAS MOLARES, S.A. SPAIN

PEIXE DO MAR FREEZING TRAWLER 292,75 TRB 1975 PEIXE DO MAR, S.A. SPAIN 

ARNOYA FREEZING TRAWLER 442,65 TRB 1975 PESCOINSA+G67 SPAIN 

MONTE FURADO FISHING STERN TRAWLER 513,16 TRB 1975 PESQUERIAS MOLARES, S.A. SPAIN 

GLACIAR FREEZING TRAWLER 281,47 TRB 1975 CONSTANTINO VALLEJO CARBALLA SPAIN 

NEUTAN FREEZING TRAWLER 285,43 TRB 1975 MALVALFER, S.A. SPAIN 

BIBEY FREEZING TRAWLER 442,65 TRB 1975 PESCOINSA SPAIN 

TEUCRO FISHING STERN TRAWLER 489,20 TRB 1975 GARCIA VIDAL ARMADORES, S.A. SPAIN 

MONTE SAN 

ADRIAN 

WET FISH TRAWLER 246,57 TRB 1975 ELISEO VARELA POSE Y OTROS SPAIN 

CHICHA TOUZA FISHING STERN TRAWLER 433,45 TRB 1976 ANTONIO TOUZA BLANCO SPAIN 

HNOS. RGUEZ. 

NOVO 

WET FISH TRAWLER 230,96 TRB 1976 OLEGARIO RODRIGUEZ NOVO SPAIN 

PIÑEIRO CORREA FISHING STERN TRAWLER 368,71 TRB 1976 PIÑEIRO CORREA, S.L. SPAIN 

ANCORA D’OURO FISHING STERN TRAWLER 357,74 TRB 1976 FARPESAN, S.L. SPAIN 

MAYI CUATRO FISHING STERN TRAWLER 346,26 TRB 1976 NAVALES CERDEIRA, S.L. SPAIN 

LORES WET FISH TRAWLER 276,16 TRB 1976 DOMINGO FDEZ. VILAS Y OTROS. SPAIN 

VICENTE 

BARREIRO 

PLAYA DE 

PESMAR 

FISHING STERN TRAWLER 393,61 TRB 1976 PESQUERA BARREIRO GLEZ, S.A. SPAIN 

FISHING STERN TRAWLER 393,61 TRB 1976 PESQUERIAS MARINENSES, S.A. SPAIN 

RIO VERDUGO FISHING STERN TRAWLER 344,60 TRB 1976 BACAMAR, S.A. SPAIN 

COSTA NORTE WET FISH TRAWLER 264,56 TRB 1977 AQUILINO MENENDEZ CUERVO SPAIN 

ATXASPI WET FISH TRAWLER 269,82 TRB 1977 JUAN URRUSOLO AZPILLAGA SPAIN 

GOITIA WET FISH TRAWLER 263,85 TRB 1977 SILVERIO GOITIA AURTENECHEA SPAIN 

CIBELES WET FISH TRAWLER 230,69 TRB 1977 J.LUIS PEREZ NESPRAL Y OTROS SPAIN 

PLAYA DE 

AREAMILLA 

WET FISH TRAWLER 157,98 TRB 1977 EUGENIO GONZALEZ MARTINEZ SPAIN 

ANGUIACHO FISHING STERN TRAWLER 342,10 TRB 1977 COOP. VIRGEN DEL CARMEN SPAIN

ELIFE NUMERO 

TRES 

ENSENADA DE 

PINTENS 

WET FISH TRAWLER 245,26 TRB 1977 HERMINIO LESTAO DOMINGUEZ SPAIN 

WET FISH TRAWLER 179,51 TRB 1977 C. DEL MAR ENSENADA DE PINTENS SPAIN 

CIEISA ONCE FISHING STERN TRAWLER 462,97 TRB 1977 C.I.E.I.S.A. SPAIN 

CIEISA DOCE FISHING STERN TRAWLER 462,97 TRB 1978 C.I.E.I.S.A. SPAIN 

CIEISA TRECE FISHING STERN TRAWLER 462,97 TRB 1978 C.I.E.I.S.A. SPAIN 

SABEMAR FISHING VESSEL 233,50 TRB 1978 SABEMAR, S.L. SPAIN 

CORI BARGE 40,22 TRB 1978 EMILIO VINJOY RODIL SPAIN 

CIEISA CATORCE FISHING STERN TRAWLER 462,97 TRB 1978 C.I.E.I.S.A. SPAIN 

BANDA LINING FISHING VESSEL 23,64 TRB 1978 DIRECT.DE L’OCEAN. SENEGAL 

YATANT LINING FISHING VESSEL 23,64 TRB 1978 DIRECT.DE L’OCEAN. SENEGAL 

DAK LINING FISHING VESSEL 23,64 TRB 1978 DIRECT.DE L’OCEAN. SENEGAL 

CIEISA QUINCE FISHING STERN TRAWLER 462,97 TRB 1978 C.I.E.I.S.A. SPAIN 

MARIBER DOS FISHING STERN TRAWLER 115,47 TRB 1978 MIGUEL MAIZA ESNAOLA SPAIN 

DEMBA SEEN LINING FISHING VESSEL 23,64 TRB 1978 DIRECT. DE L’LCEAN. SENEGAL 

XED LINING FISHING VESSEL 23,64 TRB 1978 DIRECT. DE L’LCEAN. SENEGAL 

LO’W LINING FISHING VESSEL 23,64 TRB 1979 DIRECT. DE L’LCEAN. SENEGAL 

TAL WET FISH TRAWLER 26,55 TRB 1979 DIRECT. DE L’LCEAN. SENEGAL 

OBO WET FISH TRAWLER 26,55 TRB 1979 DIRECT. DE L’LCEAN. SENEGAL 

CAACU WET FISH TRAWLER 26,55 TRB 1979 DIRECT. DE L’LCEAN. SENEGAL 

WARANGAL WET FISH TRAWLER 26,55 TRB 1979 DIRECT. DE L’LCEAN. SENEGAL 

RAAID PASSENGER VESSEL 26,23 TRB 1979 IRAQUI STATE ORGAN. IRAK 

NITHAL PASSENGER VESSEL 26,23 TRB 1979 IRAQUI STATE ORGAN. IRAK 

WAHDA PASSENGER VESSEL 26,23 TRB 1979 IRAQUI STATE ORGAN. IRAK 

TATHAMIN PASSENGER VESSEL 26,23 TRB 1979 IRAQUI STATE ORGAN. IRAK

KIFAH PASSENGER VESSEL 26,23 TRB 1979 IRAQUI STATE ORGAN. IRAK 

SALAH ALDIN PASSENGER VESSEL 26,23 TRB 1979 IRAQUI STATE ORGAN. IRAK 

17 JULY PASSENGER VESSEL 26,23 TRB 1979 IRAQUI STATE ORGAN. IRAK 

NAKHEEL PASSENGER VESSEL 26,23 TRB 1979 IRAQUI STATE ORGAN. IRAK 

HURIA PASSENGER VESSEL 26,23 TRB 1979 IRAQUI STATE ORGAN. IRAK 

KHOLOOD PASSENGER VESSEL 26,23 TRB 1979 IRAQUI STATE ORGAN. IRAK 

CIEISA DIECISEIS FISHING STERN TRAWLER 462,97 TRB 1979 C.I.E.I.S.A. SPAIN 

DON NATALIO WET FISH TRAWLER 260,87 TRB 1979 NATALIO PENNISI ARGENTINA 

DENEGRI 

PRIMERO 

WET FISH TRAWLER 270,30 TRB 1980 ENRIQUE J.DENEGRI ARGENTINA 

ALVAMAR TRES WET FISH TRAWLER 276,16 TRB 1980 ALVAMAR, S.A. SPAIN 

CIEISA DIECISIETE FISHING STERN TRAWLER 462,97 TRB 1980 C.I.E.I.S.A. SPAIN 

CIJARA BARGE 7,32 TRB 1981 CONF. HIDROGR.GUADIANA SPAIN 

MARIBER UNO FISHING STERN TRAWLER 115,47 TRB 1981 PECTUNES TUNISIA 

MARIBER TRES FISHING STERN TRAWLER 115,47 TRB 1981 PECTUNES TUNISIA 

ESCAMA XXI FISHING STERN TRAWLER 295,17 TRB 1982 BANPESCA MEXICO 

ESCAMA XXII FISHING STERN TRAWLER 295,17 TRB 1982 BANPESCA MEXICO 

PUENTE 

PEREIRAS 

FISHING STERN TRAWLER 494,81 TRB 1983 ARMADORA JOSE PERIERA, S.A.L SPAIN 

HELIOPOLIS MULTIPURPOSE FISHING VESSEL 69,04 TRB 1983 OUARTSI MAHMOUD ARGELIA 

ASMA MULTIPURPOSE FISHING VESSEL 69,04 TRB 1983 LAKDFAR BARKA FATSHI ARGELIA 

ITHRI MULTIPURPOSE FISHING VESSEL 69,04 TRB 1983 CHEDOUBA SAID ARGELIA 

MIRAMAR MULTIPURPOSE FISHING VESSEL 69,04 TRB 1983 SAIS MUSTAPHA ARGELIA 

BOGA SEINER 135,76 TRB 1983 E.N.A.T.I.P. ANGOLA 

DENTAO SEINER 135,76 TRB 1983 E.N.A.T.I.P. ANGOLA 

BAIACU SEINER 135,76 TRB 1984 E.N.A.T.I.P. ANGOLA

ABROTEA SEINER 135,76 TRB 1984 E.N.A.T.I.P. ANGOLA 

GAROUPA SEINER 135,76 TRB 1984 E.N.A.T.I.P. ANGOLA 

MERO SEINER 135,76 TRB 1984 E.N.A.T.I.P. ANGOLA 

CARAPAU SEINER 135,76 TRB 1984 E.N.A.T.I.P. ANGOLA 

BADEJO SEINER 135,76 TRB 1984 E.N.A.T.I.P. ANGOLA 

SARDINHA SEINER 135,76 TRB 1984 E.N.A.T.I.P. ANGOLA 

ARNELES FISHING STERN TRAWLER 488,70 TRB 1984 PESQUERA VAQUEIRO, S.A. SPAIN 

PUENTE BELESAR FISHING STERN TRAWLER 497,91 TRB 1985 JOSE PEREIRA E HIJOS, S.A. SPAIN 

LA LEBOMBI FERRY 308,00 TRB 1985 C.N.N.I. GABON 

VOMBIE CARGO/PASSENGER VESSEL 131,06 TRB 1985 C.N.N.I. GABON 

FOULE NZEM RIVER PASSENGER BARGE 30,14 TRB 1985 C.N.N.I. GABON 

MALEMBE RIVER PASSENGER BARGE 30,14 TRB 1985 C.N.N.I. GABON 

ARANGA RIVER PASSENGER BARGE 30,14 TRB 1985 C.N.N.I. GABON 

EVARO RIVER PASSENGER BARGE 30,14 TRB 1985 C.N.N.I. GABON 

MBILATEN RIVER PASSENGER BARGE 30,14 TRB 1985 C.N.N.I. GABON 

PUENTE LADEIRA FISHING STERN TRAWLER 531,38 TRB 1985 JOSE PEREIRA E HIJOS, S.A. SPAIN 

PUENTE 

PEREIRAS DOS 

FISHING STERN TRAWLER 814,52 TRB 1986 ARMADORA JOSE PEREIRA, S.A. SPAIN 

PUENTE SABARIS FISHING STERN TRAWLER 814,52 TRB 1986 JOSE PEREIRA E HIJOS, S.A. SPAIN 

HERMANOS 

TOUZA 

FISHING STERN TRAWLER 629,68 TRB 1986 CHYMAR, S.A. SPAIN 

RIO ORXAS FISHING STERN TRAWLER 538,69 TRB 1987 PESQUERA INTER, S.A. SPAIN 

COSTA DE 

NORMANDIA 

FISHING STERN TRAWLER 860,00 TRB 1987 HIJOS DE ANGEL OJEDA, S.A. SPAIN 

JUGAMAR FISHING STERN TRAWLER 638,44 TRB 1987 PESQUERAS JUGAMAR, S.A. SPAIN 

RIO BOUZOS UNO FISHING STERN TRAWLER 194,56 TRB 1988 CAFAME, S.L. SPAIN 

NOE FISHING STERN TRAWLER 225,63 TRB 1988 JOSE GUZMAN CADAVID Y OTROS SPAIN

MAR GRANDE FISHING STERN TRAWLER 212,58 TRB 1988 AMERICA Y GALICIA, S.A. SPAIN 

MAR BERMEJO FISHING STERN TRAWLER 212,58 TRB 1988 AMERICA Y GALICIA, S.A. SPAIN 

PISCATOR FISHING STERN TRAWLER 673,00 TRB 1988 PESQUERA PISCIS, S.L. SPAIN 

RAMPA FISHING STERN TRAWLER 492,96 TRB 1989 PESQUERA RAMPA, S.A. SPAIN 

PLAYA DE RODAS FISHING STERN TRAWLER 465,93 TRB 1989 C.B.DEL MAR SALGUEIRON SPAIN 

VIRXEN DA 

SALETA DOS 

FISHING STERN TRAWLER 193,41 TRB 1989 PESQUERA COSTA BRAVA, S.L. SPAIN 

VILLASELAN LONGLINER 93,33 TRB 1989 JACINTO GONZALEZ FERNANDEZ SPAIN 

PETENERO FISHING STERN TRAWLER 630,00 TRB 1990 PESCA DE ALTURA ALTEANAS, S.A. SPAIN 

VAKA FISHING STERN TRAWLER 938,80 TRB 1991 ESKFIRDINGUR HF ICELAND 

ZARQA AL- 

YAMAMA 

FREEZING TUNA LONGLINER 672,00 TRB 1991 PECHEUR OVERSEAS IND. LIBERIA 

AL-NASIM FREEZING TUNA LONGLINER 672,00 TRB 1991 PECHEUR OVERSEAS IND. LIBERIA 

AL-SHAFQ FREEZING TUNA LONGLINER 672,00 TRB 1992 PECHEUR OVERSEAS IND. LIBERIA 

ALNAJMA 

ALBAIDHA 

FREEZING TUNA LONGLINER 672,00 TRB 1992 PECHEUR OVERSEAS IND. LIBERIA 

LA LINERA. FLAT-BOAT 7,36 GT 1993 CULTIMAR, S.A. SPAIN 

ALFA ANTIPOLLUTION VESSEL 132,83 GT 1994 GUARDA COSTAS GRIEGO GREECE 

BETA ANTIPOLLUTION VESSEL 129,00 GT 1994 GUARDA COSTAS GRIEGO GREECE 

DELTA ANTIPOLLUTION VESSEL 129,00 GT 1994 GUARDA COSTAS GRIEGO GREECE 

AMALTAL 

MARINER 

FISHING STERN TRAWLER 555,00 GT 1996 AMALTAL FISHING CO. N. ZEALAND 

ALBAMAR FISHING STERN TRAWLER 448,90 GT 1997 EUROPESCA INSULAR, S.L. SPAIN 

BOCTOK-1 FREEZING AUTO. LONGLINER 572,00 GT 1997 FISHING KOLKHOZ VOSTOK-1 RUSSIA 

JONAS FISHING STERN TRAWLER 374,44 GT 1998 PESQUERA AIRIÑOS, S.L. SPAIN 

NORDTIND FISHING STERN TRAWLER 669,00 GT 1998 HAVFISK AS NORWAY 

MAR MARIA FISHING STERN TRAWLER 448,80 GT 1998 EUROPESCA INSULAR, S.L. SPAIN

BATSFJORD FISHING STERN TRAWLER 1195,00 GT 1999 VATSFJORD HAVFISKESELSKAP A/S NORWAY 

M/V DA-BFAR OCEANOGRAPHIC RESEARCH V. 1156,00 GT 1999 Mº AGRICULTURA REP. FILIPINAS PHILIPPINES 

ANDENESFISK II FISHING STERN TRAWLER 1354,00 GT 2000 AS ANDENES HAVFISKESELSKAP NORWAY 

BEZA CARGO VESSEL 2469,00 GT 2000 NAVINORTE, S.A. SPAIN 

SEA CLOUD II PASSENGER SAILING VESSEL 3807,00 GT 2000 HANSA COLUMBUS MBAH & CO. GERMANY 

NORDTIND bis FISHING STERN TRAWLER 699,00 GT 2001 HAVFISK AS NORWAY 

BULNES CARGO VESSEL 2469,00 GT 2001 NAVINORTE, S.A. SPAIN 

PUNTA VIXIA FREEZING TRAWLER 310,00 GT 2001 CHUSCOMAR, S.L. SPAIN 

GEOSEA 

OFFSHORE SUPPORT / ROV 

SURVEY VESSEL 

3206 GT 2002 GEOSHIPPING AS NORWAY 

KP BISMA 

SEARCH AND RESCUE VESSEL 622 GT 2002 POLICIA INDONESIA INDONESIA 

KP BALADEWA 

SEARCH AND RESCUE VESSEL 622 GT 2002 POLICIA INDONESIA INDONESIA 

ANDRE LEDUC 

WET FISH TRAWLER 836,6 GT 2004 NORD PECHERIES FRANCE 

SUNDEROY 

FISHING STERN TRAWLER 1874 GT 2004 MYRE HAVFISKE, AS NORWAY 

VELOX 

OCEAN GOING ESCORT VESSEL 663 GT 2005 OSTENSJO REDERI, AS NORWAY 

TENAX 

OCEAN GOING ESCORT VESSEL 663 GT 2006 OSTENSJO REDERI, AS NORWAY 

FULMAR 

PATROL BOAT 727 GT 2006 A.ESTATAL ADM.TRIB. SPAIN


Part 3 


Africa Confidential 

OSIEA 


25

www.africa-confidential.com 20 October 2006 - Vol 47 - N° 21 

blue lines 

Welcome to the new 12-page 

Africa Confidential. The time is 

right for expansion. Elections 

and key party congresses are 

due in many of Africa’s biggest 

countries in the next 18 months, 

and the outcomes will decide 

the shape of the continent’s 

leadership over the next five 

years. 

The current boost to African 

growth, the strongest since 

the late 1970s, is fuelled by 

commodity demand from 

India and China, which are 

establishing new trade and 

investment routes. Africa is 

also attracting fast-growing 

private funds, which are buying 

equities and treasury bills in 

what some see as the emerging 

markets’ last frontier. 

The USA’s war on terror – with 

deployments in the Horn of 

Africa, the Sahel and along West 

Africa’s seaboard – and the new 

economic power of Asia echo 

the Cold War era, when African 

regimes played off one side 

against the other. 

One positive sign is the 

new political activism that 

demands more accountability 

and better governance. For 

every anti-corruption movement 

that is closed down, more 

spring up, determined to check 

commercial and political 

abuses. Whatever their 

successes, our pages will be full 

of the inside stories. 

kenya 

The anti-corruption collapse 

The failure of Justice Ringera’s investigations reinforces the growing 

criminalisation of the state 

Attorney General Amos Wako’s dismissal of the Kenya Anti-Corruption 

Commission’s (KACC) investigation into five state contracts will 

effectively block the cases until after next year’s national elections. It 

was clear that these contracts and the Anglo-Leasing passport scandal, which 

prompted the dismissal of three of President Mwai Kibaki’s Ministers, Chris 

Murungaru (Security and Transport), Kiraitu Murungi (Justice and Energy) 

and David Mwiraria (Finance), had become the government’s biggest political 

liability and a symbol of its failure to tackle corruption (AC Vol 45 No 15). 

Many Kenyans now believe that Kibaki’s government is at least as corrupt 

as that of his predecessor, Daniel arap Moi, even if they are unsure that 

voting for an opposition alliance, such as the Orange Democratic Movement 

under Raila Odinga and Kalonzo Musyoka, would cut graft more effectively. 

Perhaps the voters will now consider more seriously the small anti-corruption 

political party which, we hear, is set to contest next year’s national elections. 

For now, public confidence in the government’s anti-corruption institutions, 

judiciary and police services has shattered. Concerns about state corruption 

are growing as pressure mounts for parties to raise campaign finance for next 

year’s national elections. 

wako under attack Wako, who has been under heavy attack from 

Justice Minister Martha Karua for several weeks, handed back the KACC contract 

investigation files on six grounds, pointing to serious gaps and deficiencies in 

the evidence produced by investigators. This was just two weeks after KACC 

Chairman Aaron Ringera announced that his investigators had established 

a cast-iron case against the alleged miscreants. Under Kenya’s constitution, 

only the Attorney General or his appointed delegates can prosecute cases. The 

Anglo-Leasing scandal was conspicuously missing from the dossier. Ringera 

said on 2 October that he had forwarded files to Waco on 27 and 28 September, 

recommending the prosecution of four unnamed former ministers and several 

unnamed former permanent secretaries in relation to Anglo-Leasing type 

corruption cases. A serving minister was included in the list in connection 

with four false travel claims. 

Wako’s rejection of the KACC’s investigations seriously undermines Ringera, 

raising questions over his competence and determination to pursue these 

zambia 4 

nigeria 5 

south africa 6 

côte d’ivoire 9 

kenya 2 

The Titanic 

sails at dawn 

The polls were wrong 

and Michael Sata lost to 

President Mwanawasa. 

All for one, not 

yet 

Facing graft charges, 

state governors are 

losing their nerve. 

Toughest 

election ever 

The ANC battles over 

the December 2007 conf 

erence. 

Diamonds, gold 

and guns 

Both sides exploit the 

underground economy 

to pay for weapons. 

east africa 10 

gabon/e.guinea 11 

pointers 12

politically sensitive cases. Justice 

Minister Karua, who has disputed 

the validity of the initial detective 

work by former anti-corruption 

czar John Githongo, will doubtless 

claim vindication. So will Githongo, 

who argued in an open letter on 

19 September that neither Ringera 

nor the Kibaki government has 

Wako’s rejection of the KACC 

probe seriously undermines 

Ringera’s position 

shown serious interest in pursuing 

Anglo-Leasing and other corruption 

scandals. 

Karua accused Githongo of 

refusing to sign a statement 

summarising his analysis of the 

brothers in armenia 

Anglo-Leasing affair. Githongo 

countered that he had given the 

authorities a written account. He 

had many problems with the KACC 

summary of his evidence and had 

prepared his own with the help of 

his legal adviser, Makau Mutua. 

Githongo further said that 

Ringera, in two separate interviews 

with the KACC in 

London, had told him 

that he [Githongo] 

had made senior 

officials suffer and 

that the pursuit of the 

Anglo-Leasing affair 

would be postponed until after the 

elections or perhaps indefinitely. 

One conversation took place in 

the presence of two KACC officials 

and Mutua, another just between 

Ringera, Mutua and himself, 

The report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the activities of 

the so-called Armenian brothers – Artur Margaryan and Artur Sargasyan 

– uncovers a pattern of fraud and corruption in the police, customs and 

immigration services – and in Kenya’s political elite. Its most politically 

explosive recommendation is for the prosecution for tax evasion and 

corporate fraud of Winnie Wangui, the daughter of President Mwai 

Kibaki and his second wife Mary Wambui. 

The Presidential Commission report, a copy of which has been 

obtained by Africa Confidential, also called for the dismissal of Winnie 

Wangui from Kenya’s civil service. Wangui is listed as a director of 

the Nairobi-registered Kensington Holdings, a company linked to the 

business dealings of the Arturs. The 66-page report accuses the Arturs of 

drug smuggling and money laundering. It recommends their immediate 

arrest should they return to Kenya. 

Yet Chairman of the Commission Shedrack Kiruki stops short 

of attributing political responsibility for the government’s apparent 

tolerance of the Arturs’ activities. The two were regarded as having 

immunity from prosecution and were frequently seen in State House, 

President Kibaki’s official residence, during their stay in Kenya. 

The Commission also fails to explain why Minister of Internal Affairs 

John Michuki decided to deport the Arturs after they had assaulted 

police and customs officers at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport 

instead of arresting them for breaking Kenyan law. Neither does it refer 

to claims that the Arturs were involved in an illegal raid on The Standard 

newspaper, in which staff were beaten up, files ransacked, and computer 

equipment and copies of the newspaper destroyed. 

The Commission says it believes that Sargasyan ‘was involved in 

organised crime and drug trafficking and…was seeking an outlet for his 

illegal business in Kenya,’ but fails to comment on or investigate further 

the Arturs’ widely reported links with a series of cocaine shipments 

routed through Mombasa (AC Vol 47 No 12). The main casualties of the 

Commission report will be Winnie Wangui, her mother Mary Wambui 

and indirectly President Kibaki, who has tried unsuccessfully to distance 

himself from Ms. Wambui and her daughter. However, Wambui remains 

one of Kibaki’s most important political cheerleaders in Nyeri. l 

Githongo says. 

Ringera denied making any such 

statements, especially to Githongo 

who is known to tape conversations 

with officials. Ringera also rejects 

accusations of foul play after it was 

discovered that the tapes on which 

Githongo had recorded his evidence 

to the KACC in London were found 

to be blank. 

Karua released a list of 18 

suspect contracts, prompting more 

public criticism of Wako, who, as 

the government’s chief legal advisor 

since 1991, should have warned 

officials more strongly about legally 

questionable deals. The KACC says 

it has interviewed Wako about 

his role but has not published its 

recommendations on his position. 

Anti-corruption news stories 

dominated the agenda from the start 

of the week when, on 16 October, it 

was revealed that the three Kenyans 

who had accused Charterhouse Bank 

of running a money laundering and 

tax evasion operation costing the 

Kenyan state some 18bn. Kenya 

shillings (US$240 mn.), had been 

granted asylum in the United 

States. 

The three – Peter Odhiambo, a 

Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) auditor; 

Titus Mwirigi, a CBK consultant; 

and Lameck Ocholla Wagumba, an 

information technology consultant 

with Charterhouse Bank – were 

interviewed in safe houses by officials 

from the US Drug Enforcement 

Agency. After their interviews last 

month, the three Kenyans were 

flown to South Africa via Tanzania 

before flying to the USA. 

us concerns We hear US 

officials are greatly concerned about 

allegations of money laundering 

at Charterhouse Bank. Former 

Managing Director of Charterhouse 

Sanjay Shah vehemently denies 

these claims, insisting that the bank 

complied with Kenyan law and 

that none of its officials engaged in 

criminal activities. 

Odhiambo and Mwirigi had 

alerted the then Finance Minister 

Mwiraria and then CBK Governor 

Andrew Mullei to the Charterhouse 

scandal in a detailed briefing in 

2004. Mwiraria passed the dossier 

to a team of investigators drawn 

from the CBK Fraud Squad and 

the KACC. The task force’s Henry 

 

2 0 O c t o b e r 2 0 0 6 - V o l 4 7 - N ° 2 1 - A f r i c a C o n f i d e n t i a l

Mwitha produced an interim report 

on 30 November 2004, describing 

raids on Charterhouse Bank, Tusker 

Mattresses, Creative Innovations Ltd 

and W E Tilley (Muthaiga) Ltd. 

Mwitha then reported that all four 

companies were under investigation 

together with individual customers 

Sailesh Prajpati, D. Shah and Paulo 

Sattanino. However, it was not until 

claims were made in parliament 

this June about Charterhouse’s 

involvement in money laundering 

and tax evasion that Finance 

Minister Amos Kimunya put the 

bank under statutory management 

pending further investigation. 

facing threats Two of the 

whistleblowers, Odhiambo and 

Mwirigi, said they received several 

credible death threats. On 7 July, five 

plain-clothes police officers arrived 

at the CBK to arrest Odhiambo, but 

were blocked by Acting Governor 

Jacinta Mwatela. This police 

operation followed the naming by 

opposition finance spokesman Billow 

Kerrow of some of Charterhouse 

Bank’s leading account holders 

such as: businessman and political 

financier John Harun Mwau; lawyer 

Kariuki Muigua; the supermarket 

chain Nakumatt Holdings; and other 

companies such as Harun Holdings, 

Pepe and Kingsway Tyres. 

However on 12 October, Oburu 

Odinga, the Bondo MP, brother 

of Raila Odinga and Chairman of 

Parliament’s Finance, Planning 

and Trade Committee, called for 

Charterhouse to be reopened 

and allowed to operate normally. 

The matter is a serious test for 

Kimunya whose rise to eminence in 

Kenyan politics was helped by the 

implication of his rivals 

in corruption scandals. 

Many of those 

scandals rumble on. 

For the past two weeks 

in London, lawyers 

representing Dutchbased 

Nedemar, US-based Ciara 

(AC Vol 47 No 11) and Universal 

Satspace have been in talks with the 

British law firm Freshfields, which 

acts for the Kenyan government in 

the dispute over the suspension of 

payments on security contracts. 

Nedemar and associates have 

built Project Nexus, the Defence 

Command Centre in Karen, near 

Nairobi for a total cost of US$46.1 

mn. The value was disputed by 

KACC and John Githongo, who 

ordered the suspension of payments 

on the project (AC Vol 47 No 3). 

Similarly payments were stopped 

on the $41.8 mn. Project Flagstaff, 

which includes the National Counter- 

Terrorism Control Centre with its 

special facilities, known as the 

Pisces programme, to vet and store 

information on the immigration 

status of all visitors to Kenya. US 

and British officials regard the holdup 

on this project as significantly 

increasing security risks in Kenya. 

Payments on the $28.1 mn. 

Universal Satspace project have 

US and British officials see 

the hold up of the project as 

increasing security risks 

also been stopped and we hear the 

contractors are threatening to shut 

down the system, seriously degrading 

Kenya’s national communications 

system. Freshfields, in co-ordination 

with Wako, who attended the 

negotiations, and the contractors 

are edging towards a compromise 

under which a new evaluation team 

would be appointed to establish a 

fair market price for the projects. 

Once that is agreed between the 

government and the contractors, 

the payments could be unblocked. 

But so far the government side have 

adopted a remarkably unhurried 

approach, given what is at stake. l 

kenya’s security contracts 

On-Going Projects Date Signed Cost 

($US million) 

Paid 

($US million) 

Nexus Defence Command Centre 19 Nov 2002 46.125 16.83 

Oceanographic Survey Vessel (Euromarine) 15 July 2003 13 6.3 

Oceanographic Survey Vessel (Empressa De Finanças) 15 July 2003 18.75 3.25 

Oceanographic Survey Vessel (Navigia Capital) 15 July 2003 33.25 5.84 

Project Flagstaff (National Counter Terrorism Control Centre-NCTC) 20 Nov 2003 41.8 2.85 

Bandwith Spectrum Project (Universal Satspace) 11 July 2002 28.1 16.88 

Telecommunication Network for Administration Police (Midland Finance) 29 May 2003 61.125 9.17 

cancelled Projects Date Signed Cost 

($US million) 

Paid 

($US million) 

Immigration Security and Document Control System 4 Dec 2003 31.9 1.24 

Kenya Police-Law & Order (E-Cops/Infotalent) 19 Nov 2003 59.7 6.79 

A f r i c a C o n f i d e n t i a l - 2 0 O c t o b e r 2 0 0 6 - V o l 4 7 - N ° 2 1

zambia 

The Titanic sails at dawn 

The opposition offered its voters refuge on Noah’s Ark, but it sank 

and Mwanawasa is back 

The polls were wrong and 

Michael Sata lost to incumbent 

President Levy Patrick 

Mwanawasa, whose solid 42 per cent 

of the vote came overwhelmingly 

from rural areas. In some large towns 

Sata’s supporters clashed with security 

forces when late returns showed the 

extent of his defeat, but things soon 

quietened down. Hakainde Sammy 

Hichilema of the three-party United 

Democratic Alliance took 25 per cent 

with a huge majority in his native 

Southern Province. Former Vice- 

President General Godfrey Miyanda 

took two per cent and Kenneth 

Kamwili Ngondo managed less than 

one per cent. 

Of the 3.9 million registered 

voters, 2.7 mn. took part, a turnout 

of 70 per cent, one of the highest in 

recent years. Sata’s Patriotic Front 

(PF) party was planning to petition 

against the election result following 

claims that some continuencies 

overcounted Mwanawasa’s votes and 

constituencies in Lusaka and the 

Copperbelt undercounted Sata’s. But 

Sata said on 17 October he would 

refuse to sign the petition because it 

worked against his new tactics. 

The next five years In 

his inaugural speech on 3 October, 

Mwanawasa called for national 

unity, praised his opponents and 

urged them to consider working 

with him because they raised 

fundamental issues which cannot be 

ignored. The ceremony, attended by 

Presidents Hifikepunye Pohamba 

of Namibia and Jakaya Kikwete 

of Tanzania, was held under tight 

security. Mwanawasa acknowledged 

Sata’s campaign skills and shortly 

afterwards left for a holiday to ‘reflect 

on his next five years’. Some doubt 

whether he can complete his second 

term in office. He suffered a minor 

stroke in April and may leave the dayto-day 

running of government to his 

new Vice-President Rupiah Bwezani 

Banda. His energetic wife Maureen 

Kakubo Mwanawasa is tipped to 

take a leading role. 

The capital, Lusaka and Copperbelt 

provinces voted massively for Sata 

who also picked up a huge amount 

of votes in Central, Luapula and 

Northern provinces, strongholds of 

the ruling Movement for Multiparty 

Democracy (MMD). Mwanawasa’s 

former Vice-President Lupando 

Katoloshi Mwape and his Defence 

Minister Wamundila Muliokela lost 

their parliamentary seats. 

The decisive votes came from 

Western, North-Western and Eastern 

provinces, where Mwanawasa’s party 

scooped up most of the parliamentary 

seats. The MMD’s good performance 

in rural areas rewarded its sound 

agriculture policies: steady supplies of 

fertiliser and farm inputs along with 

an effective crop marketing system, 

promoted by the Food Reserve Agency. 

The President’s vote was substantial 

even in areas where he came second. 

Mwanawasa says the Bemba 

people (one of whom is 

Sata) have chosen to be 

in opposition and he has 

promoted many Eastern 

politicians. The new 

Vice-President Rupiah 

Banda, 69, served as 

Foreign Minister under ex-President 

Kenneth Kaunda and helped turn 

Eastern province from its traditional 

support for Kaunda to the MMD. 

Sata and Hichilema both disputed 

the result but said they would not 

challenge it in the Supreme Court. 

Sata claims that there was systematic 

vote-rigging. Verification, especially 

on the Copperbelt, has shown that his 

vote was under-recorded. Hichilema 

claims the same pattern in Southern 

province. Foreign observers gave the 

results a clean bill of health, but local 

monitors raised glaring disparities 

and demanded verification. In some 

instances, the recorded vote for the 

presidency was far less than that for 

the simultaneous parliamentary and 

local government elections. 

Sata’s parallel life Sata’s 

PF gained total control of the main 

urban municipalities in Lusaka, 

Copperbelt, Luapula and Northern 

provinces, where he says he will run a 

parallel structure of local government 

to implement his campaign promises. 

He announced reductions of local 

property taxes, asked his lawyers to 

review a lease between Lusaka City 

Council and Chinese investors to 

give Zambians control of a big market 

and urged Zambians to apply for 

allocations of land within the city. 

Mwanawasa threatens to jail 

Sata for treason if he tries to run a 

parallel government: ‘Sata is pushing 

his luck too far. I will sort him 

out’. Legally, local government is 

autonomous, though the minister of 

local government may dissolve nonperforming 

councils. Mwanawasa 

may consider dissolving PF councils 

and calling by-elections; he says 

‘Zambians forget easily’ and may not 

vote for Sata. 

Plenty of legal battles are 

anticipated. Mwanawasa’s new 

Minister of Local Government, Sylvia 

Masebo, was politically groomed by 

Sata when she was Deputy Mayor of 

Lusaka and is a close personal friend 

of Wynter Kabimba, the PF’s Shadow 

Minister of Local Government, who 

‘Sata is pushing his luck too 

far. I will sort him out.’ 

has been assigned to supervise the PFrun 

councils. The friendly rivals may 

work for peace on local government. 

After the election Sata’s militant 

supporters overpowered the riot 

police, torched vehicles and took 

control of various slums in Lusaka 

and Copperbelt; armed soldiers were 

called in, and the violence ended when 

Sata appealed for calm. Most security 

personnel voted for Sata, including at 

a State House polling station where 

the presidential guards and their 

families vote. Military barracks also 

voted for the opposition and transfers 

are expected in the defence forces. 

On 8 October, at a football match 

against South Africa at the 35,000- 

seat Independence Stadium, fans 

showed their support for Sata during 

 


the national anthem. When South 

Africa won, they stoned vehicles and 

fought the police. 

Sata’s well-crafted populist 

policies called for lower taxes, more 

jobs, better housing and sanitation, 

free education, free healthcare and 

above all economic empowerment. 

Noah’s Ark was his symbol and he 

urged Zambians to get on board if 

they wanted to survive the economic 

hardships which he promised to sort 

out within 90 days in office. 

The MMD called the Ark a ‘Titanic’ 

which will sink because of Sata’s 

unrealistic promises. Suprisingly, 

Sata’s electoral arithmetic was poor. 

He fielded only 105 parliamentary 

candidates in the 150 constituencies 

and ignored North-Western, Western 

and Southern provinces, where he 

thought Hichilema would pick up the 

votes instead of Mwanawasa. 

In the Copperbelt, Sata accused the 

foreign mining companies of failing to 

improve safety, pay and job security, 

and promised to reverse their tax 

concessions. This made him a hero, 

especially at the Konkola Copper 

Mines (KCM), Zambia’s biggest mining 

company, owned by India’s Vedanta 

Group, where workers complain of 

low wages, short-term contracts and 

an influx of Indian workers to jobs 

previously held by Zambians. On 23 

September, Mwanawasa ordered that 

casual workers be given long-term 

contracts and castigated KCM for 

paying foreigners eight times what 

Zambians get. The government now 

plans to review the mining code, 

saying ‘Zambians have spoken loudly 

in a voice which cannot be ignored’. 

The President says he may dissolve 

the disastrous task-force that he 

appointed to investigate graft under 

the ten-year rule of his predecessor 

Frederick Chiluba, giving its work 

to the police and the anti-corruption 

commission. Mwanawasa told 

reporters that his government spent 

more than US$10 mn. on the taskforce 

(half of it on legal fees), but 

nothing tangible has been recorded 

with $400,000 left in the account. He 

accused its officers of prolonging the 

process to enrich themselves. 

Yet on 10 October, Magistrate 

Jones Chinyama gave a twoyear 

prison sentence to the former 

Managing Director of the state-run 

Zambia National Commercial Bank, 

Samuel Musonda, for abuse of office 

and corruption involving some 10 

billion kwacha ($2.7 mn.). Musonda 

made unauthorised loans to Chiluba 

and fugitive former intelligence 

chief, Xavier Chungu, for unknown 

operations. The government has 

retained United States law firm DLA 

Piper to recover $25.25 mn. which it 

claims was stolen from state coffers 

by Chiluba and his cronies. 

Justice Peter Smith of the London 

High Court is due to sit in Lusaka 

from 29 November to 21 December 

to hear evidence from Chiluba and 

others. The ex-President refuses 

to appear, saying Zambian citizens 

should be tried by Zambian courts. 

President Chiluba has petitioned the 

Lusaka High Court to bar Judge Smith 

from sitting in Lusaka. Judgement is 

reserved until January. l 

nigeria 

All for one, not yet 

Under threat of corruption charges, state governors are losing 

their political nerve 

As the net closes in on those state 

governors accused of corruption 

and fraud, President Olusegun 

Obasanjo’s position has strengthened 

markedly against his Vice-President 

Atiku Abubakar and most other 

would-be presidential candidates in 

next year’s national elections. The 

impeachment of Ekiti State Governor, 

Ayo Fayose (AC Vol 47 No 20) is 

the third since Obasanjo became 

President in 1999. Two more states 

have begun impeachment proceedings 

against their governors, Joshua 

Dariye (Plateau State) and Peter Obi 

(Anambra State). 

The swoop up is set to continue. 

Chairman of the Economic and 

Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) 

Nuhu Ribadu insists that he has 31 

governors in his sights. The EFCC 

reports this week that 15 state governors 

have contravened regulations on the 

declaration of assets by public officers. 

It says that some governors overdeclared 

their assets on assuming office 

so that real accumulation during their 

tenure would go undetected. Others 

did not declare properties acquired 

while in office and several ignored the 

prohibition on public officers operating 

foreign bank accounts. 

Governors under EFCC scrutiny 

include: James Ibori (Delta); Lucky 

Igbinedion (Edo); Ayo Fayose 

(Ekiti); Bonnie Haruna (Adamawa); 

Gbenga Daniel (Ogun); Olagunsoye 

Oyinlola (Osun); Adamu Aleiro 

(Kebbi); Attahiru Bafarawa (Sokoto); 

Saminu Ibrahim Turaki (Jigawa); 

Ahmad Makarfi (Kaduna); Goodluck 

Jonathan (Bayelsa); Chimaraoke 

Nnamani (Enugu); Achike Udenwa 

(Imo); Sam Egwu (Ebonyi); and Bola 

Tinubu (Lagos). 

Even hardened strategists in 

A f r i c a C o n f i d e n t i a l - 2 0 O c t o b e r 2 0 0 6 - V o l 4 7 - N ° 2 1 

Abubkar’s failing campaign say that 

they underestimated Ribadu and his 

ally, Nasir el-Rufai, Minister for the 

Federal Capital Territory. ‘We thought 

it was just Obasanjo. We still believe 

Obasanjo is looking for a way for 

elections to fail so that he can stay on. 

The timetable is right for it, the chaos 

in the political parties is right for it. 

Eight years into civilian rule and there 

is still no institutional strength to the 

process,’ one Abubakar campaigner 

told Africa Confidential. 

Some Abubakar activists believe 

Obasanjo himself will be damaged by 

the anti-corruption campaign in the 

end. They claim he is isolated and has 

no candidate. Northern candidates 

such as former military leader General 

Ibrahim Babangida and Gen. Aliyu 

Mohammed Gusau are wary of 

Obasanjo’s intentions, as well as those 

of Ribadu. According to the Abubakar 

campaigner, the anti-corruption 

campaign has divided and confused 

the northern political elite: ‘The real 

beneficiaries are Ribadu and Rufai. Or 

more likely, the army.’ 

Short of Obasanjo dying suddenly, 

Abubakar’s campaigners accept their 

candidate’s chances are slim; ‘People 

don’t call or return calls.’ l

south africa The ANC’s toughest 

election ever – in December 2007 

It will be the fiercest-fought election the African 

National Congress has faced since coming 

to power in 2004: it is the ANC’s National 

Conference in December 2007 that will elect the 

party president and the party’s Presidential flagbearer 

in the 2009 elections. 

schism in the party 

Even the most conservative African National Congress 

activists admit that a schism has developed in the 

party between supporters of President Thabo Mbeki and 

those of sacked Deputy President Jacob Zuma. Yet they 

cannot agree about why the schism has developed and 

whose fault it is. Zuma’s fans are the usual opponents 

of President Mbeki’s conventional economic policies: the 

Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the 

South African Communist Party (SACP). He also attracts 

support from the poor and working class, frustrated by the 

slow pace of service delivery, growing unemployment and 

rising crime. 

Most controversially there is the Zulu factor: Zuma, the 

cattle herder from Inkandla, is tremendously popular in 

his own kwaZulu/Natal (KZN) province. He addresses 

rallies and even courtrooms in isiZulu and enthusiastically 

attends provincial functions in traditional garb. Zulus 

make up some 24 per cent of South Africa’s population. 

Yet Zuma cannot play the Zulu card too strongly for fear 

of alienating his support among the Xhosa (18 per cent), 

Sesotho (7.9), Sepedi (9.4), Setswana (8.2) and other 

groups such as whites (9.6), coloured (8.9) and Indians 

(2.5). He would never be forgiven for dividing the ANC 

on ethnic lines, a core strategy of the old National Party 

regime; and arithmetically it would make no sense. 

Zuma’s best chance is to hold a broad pro-poor alliance – 

without alienating business. When asked by journalist RW 

Johnson for his own – as opposed to the ANC’s – political 

views, Zuma replied: ‘You could say I have a passion for the 

poor. I’m not happy that after more than 10 years in power 

that so many of our people are still living in shacks. And 

far more needs to be done to help poor rural people. The 

Bantustans were abolished but nothing has been done to 

replace the money they brought into the rural areas.’ 

Those concerns resonate with South Africans. For many, 

Zuma symbolises the South African struggle: growing up 

in poverty without formal education, he learned English 

from his fellow prisoners on Robben Island. He then 

rose to head ANC intelligence and, after 1994, took the 

lead in negotiating a truce between the ANC and Chief 

Mangosuthu Buthelezi’s Inkatha Freedom Party. 

Opposing the Zuma camp are Mbeki’s core supporters in 

the cabinet, the 60-strong National Executive Committee, 

the 25-strong National Working Committee and groups 

throughout the ANC’s 365 branches. Mbeki is preferred by 

the prosperous and those who run businesses, people who 

mostly view a Zuma presidency with undisguised horror. 

Yet Zuma seems to be winning the propaganda battle 

in the private media, which carried a tide of anti-Mbeki 

stories, fuelled by public rows between the factions. Last 

month, former Premier of Limpopo province Ngoako 

Ramatlhodi turned up at the Free State Provincial 

General Council and accused Mbeki of crippling the ANC. 

A few weeks later, Billy Masetlha, the sacked Director of 

the National Intelligence Agency, told ANC Youth League 

members that the ANC was in the wrong hands and was 

dominated by a narrow group of ‘ten people’. There are 

many other politicians who would relish a chance to settle 

scores with Mbeki. 

Hearts, minds and votes 

There are two levels to the battle: the tactical one of 

influencing the hearts and minds of media, unions 

and political rallies; and the strategic one of winning the 

vote at the ANC’s National Conference in December 2007. 

It is the ANC’s National Deployment Committee (NDC), 

currently weighted in favour of Mbeki, which decides the 

candidates nominated at the conference. In theory the 

NDC could keep Zuma off the ballot, but it will be the 

delegates from the ANC’s 365 branches across South Africa 

who cast the votes to elect the party’s next President. 

Those delegates will represent the ANC’s 150,000-200,000 

paid-up members, but there will be much surveillance if 

not outright intervention from the centre as to how the 

branches choose delegates. 

Zuma’s advantage is that for the present his is the only 

hat in the ring. Other candidates for the ANC’s presidential 

nomination – such as former ANC Secretary General Cyril 

Ramaphosa, Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota and 

Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni – will only emerge 

in the coming months. 

For now, Zuma is way ahead in the public recognition. 

As soon as Justice Herbert Msimang threw out the state’s 

corruption case against him on 20 September, mass 

demonstrations of support broke out. Hours later, Zuma 

was hoisted onto the stage at Cosatu’s national conference 

and presented by union leaders as the country’s next 

president. Yet the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is 

still investigating Zuma’s affairs and will almost certainly 

bring new corruption charges against him. Any failure to 

do so will be seen as accepting Zuma’s argument that there 

was a political conspiracy against him orchestrated by NPA 

Director Bulelani Ngcuka. 

Well-orchestrated pro-Zuma conference speeches and 

demonstrations accompanied two successive attempts to 

 


prosecute him – first for rape, then for fiddling government 

contracts – both of which failed. The purpose was to show 

‘overwhelming’ support for a Zuma presidency, and also 

that control was slipping away from Mbeki. Immediately 

after Zuma was set free, he flew to Johannesburg for the 

vote at Cosatu’s conference. He had no vote himself; 

before Mbeki fired him in 2005, he had few links with 

the labour movement. Yet his supporters, led by Cosatu 

General Secretary Zwelinzima Vavi, encouraged him to 

run a victory lap around the hall. 

madisha bounces back 

Vavi had managed to postpone the election for the 

all-important position of Cosatu president, hoping to 

prevent incumbent Willie Madisha from regaining his 

position. Madisha is one of the union leaders who do not 

want Cosatu to back Zuma’s presidential bid. He and likeminded 

trades unionists saw the Vice-President’s sacking 

as a symbol of Mbeki’s heavy-handed leadership style. But 

their opposition to Mbeki does not necessarily translate into 

support for Zuma. The Cosatu poll was a test for Zuma’s 

support within the union movement, with Madisha, who 

also sits on the SACP’s Central Executive Committee, at 

its centre. Madisha narrowly won the vote, helped by the 

powerful National Health & Allied Workers’ Union. 

Zuma’s supporters had tried to oust Madisha from his 

own Democratic Teachers’ Union. Despite the lobbying, 

Madisha kept his job – even though Zuma was wheeled 

in to speak, one of those tactics devised by strategists to 

make him appear more statesman-like. Yet the anti-Mbeki 

campaign continued. At the Cosatu conference, Deputy 

President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Mbeki’s protégée 

and the wife of Bulelani Ngcuka, was booed and likened in 

song to a vicious dog – for supplanting Zuma in the job. 

Another of Mbeki’s close allies is Sydney Mufamadi, 

Provincial Affairs Minister and SACP Central Committee 

member. Zuma’s faction in Cosatu made such a row that 

Mufamadi abandoned his speech half-way through. Similar 

tactics were deployed on 1 October at a commemoration of 

Durban’s most distinguished citizen, Mahatma Gandhi. 

In the presence of Mbeki and India’s Prime Minister 

Manmohan Singh, rowdies sang anti-Mbeki songs. Zuma’s 

supporters tried to embarrass Mbeki by boycotting the 

event or walking out noisily. Only a few hundred people 

turned up for what had been intended as a showcase of 

India-South Africa co-operation. 

Mbeki visits the grassroots 

Mbeki is fighting back quietly. He began a personal 

campaign at ANC provincial and branch meetings. 

He turned up unannounced at the provincial meeting in 

Western Cape, where he feared the local ANC leaders were 

mismanaging the delicate relationships between Africans, 

coloureds and whites. He believes that Zuma’s supporters 

have stoked ethnic divisions with their aggressive public 

statements. Mbeki’s intervention proved effective:a few 

weeks later the Western Cape ANC backed him, without 

prompting from the centre, in his spat with SACP General 

Secretary Blade Nzimande. 

Mbeki also intervened in Eastern Cape, which, along 

tHE ROAD TO THE ANC’S 2007 NATIONAL CONFERENCE 

Preparatory conferences 

1.The African National Congress 

Provincial Conferences will be 

fiercely lobbied by Jacob Zuma’s 

and Thabo Mbeki’s camps. The 

Provincial Conferences will be held 

after Mbeki delivers his 8 January 

statement and State of the Nation 

address in February 2007, and 

before July, allowing about six 

months of campaigning before the 

National Conference in December. 

2. The South African Communist 

Party conference is due in mid- 

2007, when it will elect its new 

leadership. Zuma’s camp will try to 

oust Mbeki loyalist Charles Nqakula 

as SACP Chairman; Mbeki-ites 

will try to remove SACP General 

Secretary and Zuma campaign 

cheerleader Blade Nzimande. The 

SACP’s provincial conferences 

will take place before its national 

conference. 

3. The ANC Youth League 

conference is due in December; 

its President Fikile Mbalula is a 

leading Zuma supporter. The ANC 

national leadership funds the ANC 

Youth League and may prefer to 

sponsor anti-Zuma candidates. 

4. The Young Communist League 

national conference is due in early 

2007. Zuma supporters will try to 

purge pro-Mbeki officials such as 

Deputy Secretary Mazibuko Jara. 

5. The ANC’s policy conference is 

due in mid-2007, probably just after 

the SACP conference. 

How candidates for the ANC 

presidency are nominated 

1.The National Deployment 

Committee (NDC) is the key body 

overseeing the nomination of 

candidates for the ANC presidency, 

all senior offices and membership of 

the National Executive Committee. 

Zuma chaired the NDC until he was 

sacked as Deputy President in May 

2005; he is no longer a member. 

Members of the ANC alliance 

– Congress of South African Trade 

Unions (Cosatu) and SACP – do 

not have automatic seats on the 

NDC, which decides the final list 

of candidates for the presidency 

and other senior officers to be 

presented to the ANC National 

Conference in December 2007. 

2.Provincial 

Deployment 

Committees (PDCs) finalise a long 

list of candidates for nomination 

to be passed up to the NDC. The 

PDCs consist of provincial leaders 

from the provincial executive 

committees, including the 

provincial premiers plus additional 

candidates nominated by the 

National Working Committee or 

the president. 

3. District Deployment Committees 

are appointed by the PDCs, in 

consultation with the NDC, to 

gather names for nomination. l 


with KZN, has the largest number of ANC branches and 

members. Last year, opponents laid a plot against him 

in the small town of Alice, a bastion of communists 

and trades unionists cultivated by Zuma. Several large 

manufacturing firms are based there as are the National 

Unions of Metalworkers and of Mineworkers, whose large 

memberships dominate Cosatu. Resentment persists 

because in 2004 Mbeki appointed his own candidate 

Nosimo Balindlela as Eastern Cape Premier against local 

sentiment. 

eastern cape helps out 

President Mbeki’s recent provincial interventions seem to 

have borne fruit. The three largest metropolitan regions 

– Port Elizabeth, East London and Umtata – declared that 

they would re-nominate him as party leader next year. His 

old ally, KZN Premier S’bu Ndebele has defected to the 

Zuma camp under heavy local pressure. Yet Madisha’s 

narrow victory at Cosatu’s conference may help win back 

ANC leaders to Mbeki. 

Mbeki directly attacked Zuma’s main strategist, Blade 

Nzimande. At a top-level ANC meeting last week, Mbeki 

called Nzimande ‘extraordinarily arrogant’. Nzimande 

replied that Mbeki failed to provide leadership in the ANC 

and in the country. Both men tried to rally SACP and 

Cosatu support; all the SACP provinces came out against 

Mbeki, accusing him of being a dictator. The SACP Youth 

League accused Mbeki of being ‘totalitarian’ and the ANC 

Who is eligible to vote 

The African National Congress strictly determines 

eligibility to vote at national conferences. Branches 

usually nominate two delegates, more in large 

urban branches. Only one delegate votes for each 

branch; often the chairman or chairwoman is the 

voting delegate. Half of all delegates must be 

women. Only branches with 100 per cent paid-up 

members in good standing since the last national 

conference can send delegations. This prevents a 

last-minute packing of the delegations. 

The South African Communist Party (SACP), 

Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), 

ANC Youth League, Women’s and Young Communist 

Leagues have no voting delegates. They can assert 

influence only by persuading an ANC branch. 

There is growing hostility between SACP and 

Cosatu activists, who are seen as Zuma supporters, 

and the ANC members, who more often support 

Mbeki. A credentials committee checks delegates’ 

backgrounds. The ANC has an updated membership 

database and the Independent Electoral Commission 

verifies candidates’ credentials. 

Every National Executive Committee (NEC) 

member has a vote if he is in a branch or on his own. 

The ANC´s NEC is dominated by business people; 

there are no trades unionists, civil society activists 

or local activists on the NEC and this has been a 

main complaint of the SACP and Cosatu. l 

Youth League criticised his behaviour as undemocratic. 

SACP Chairman Charles Nqakula, Mbeki’s loyal ally, 

sent a counter-memo to party members, requiring that 

all party policy statements be cleared with him. This 

blocked the remaining SACP provinces from calling Mbeki 

a dictator. Another Mbeki ally, Smuts Ngonyama, head 

of the ANC presidency, persuaded the Youth League to 

produce a new statement omitting the words ‘autocratic’ 

and ‘dictatorial’. Mbeki’s people are seeking to unseat 

Nzimande as SACP leader at the party conference that 

precedes the ANC’s national conference. They would prefer 

Mufumadi, former Cosatu Deputy General Secretary, and 

are also pushing Langa Zita, an ANC MP and former SACP 

national organiser who was passed over because of his 

leftist tendencies. 

The ANC’s policy conference, scheduled for December, 

has been postponed until mid-2007 by which time Mbeki’s 

strategists believe that Zuma will have run out of steam. 

An attempt by the Zuma camp to implicate the President in 

the arms-purchase scandal failed. 

New figures in the government’s Labour Force Survey, 

published in September, show that from January to March, 

544,000 jobs were created, the highest number in recent 

years. If sustained, this indicates that the government 

could meet its targets for accelerated and shared growth, 

said Elna Moolman, a Standard Bank economist. 

Mbeki hopes that his reforms will halve unemployment 

by 2014. On HIV/AIDS, his spin-doctors shifted the 

blame for slow delivery to hapless Health Minister 

Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, who has been demoted 

from an important health committee. China has agreed 

to put voluntary caps on textile export to South Africa. 

Acceptance as a United Nations Security Council member 

has given the initiative to Foreign Minister Nkosazana 

Dlamini-Zuma, a strong Mbeki ally, who described it as 

‘the opportunity of a lifetime’. 

In September, the left tried to exploit the Zimbabwe 

issue, one of Mbeki’s policy weaknesses. A fact-finding 

mission from the Youth League and unions set off for 

Harare only to be deported upon arrival at the airport. A 

Democratic Alliance (DA) attempt to show that Mbeki was 

building a retirement mansion in Johannesburg’s upmarket 

Houghton suburb went bizarrely awry and was condemned 

by the doyenne of white liberals, Helen Suzman, as a 

publicity stunt and invasion of privacy. Crime is Mbeki’s 

Achilles heel but Zuma’s people have trouble exploiting 

this frailty, as the DA monopolises the issue and the left 

does not want to stand alongside them. 

Much now depends on the NPA, which is eager to 

pursue the case against Zuma, but does not want to be seen 

as carrying out a vendetta. A last-minute resolution at the 

Cosatu conference asked that ‘the legal moves against the 

deputy president of the ANC be laid to rest once and for all’. 

The NPA had staked its reputation on an efficient, impartial 

prosecution of Zuma to give warning to politicians who 

still hope to blunt its teeth and to keep other government 

departments and the police off its patch. The conviction of 

Schabir Shaik, with whom Zuma’s alleged misconduct is 

intimately linked, is under appeal. If the verdict is upheld, 

Zuma will almost certainly be back in the dock. l 

 


côte d’ivoire 

Diamonds, gold and guns 

Both sides in the divided country exploit the underground economy 

to pay for fresh weapons 

Another round of regional 

negotiations has failed, a 

credible election is impossible 

by the deadline of 31 October and 

the international and regional 

organisations look increasingly 

ineffectual. The Economic Community 

of West African States (ECOWAS) has 

endorsed an extension of President 

Laurent Gbagbo’s time in office by 

another year and nothing useful is 

expected from the African Union’s 

crisis meeting on Côte d’Ivoire which 

started on 17 October. 

The United Nations has been 

sharply criticised by its own panel of 

experts for failing to monitor the arms 

embargo it imposed after Gbagbo’s 

forces tried to re-launch the war 

against northern-based rebels two 

years ago. The experts’ report says the 

UN’s monitoring failures are allowing 

Gbagbo’s side to rebuild its air force, 

which was almost totally destroyed 

by France’s Licorne force in November 

2004, after nine French soldiers were 

killed when Ivorian Sukhoi bombers 

raided rebel positions. 

The UN panel is headed by Atabou 

Bodian of Senegal, a civil aviation 

specialist; Alex Vines, a British 

weapons expert who runs the Africa 

programme at London’s Chatham 

House; and Jean-Pierre Witty, a 

Canadian customs expert. It has 

reported on test flights of a Mig-24 

attack helicopter like the one used in 

several massacres during the 2002- 

2003 fighting, its nose decorated to 

look like a khaki-coloured shark. In 

February 2005, the UN Operation 

for Côte d’Ivoire (ONUCI) gave 

permission to test its systems once 

a month, on the ground – against 

the advice of the UN’s Department 

of Peacekeeping Operations and the 

Sanctions Committee on Côte d’Ivoire. 

In July 2005, when the helicopter was 

prepared for take-off to repel an alleged 

rebel attack on Anyama, near Abidjan, 

the Licorne commander, General Elrick 

Irastorza, telephoned Ivorian Chiefof-Staff 

Philippe Mangou to warn him 

that France would consider use of the 

aircraft a hostile act. 

Eastern European technicians look 

after both the Mig-24 and at least 

one Antonov AN-12 troop-carrier 

supplied by a Belarussian stateowned 

company, Belspetsv Technika 

(BSVT) via a company owned by 

Robert Montoya, a French citizen and 

former leading member of ex-President 

François Mitterrand’s Cellule 

Antiterroriste. The UN’s Peacekeeping 

Department has said that the use of 

foreign technical experts to repair 

military aircraft would breach the 

arms embargo. Last year, ONUCI 

discovered that tyres for the AN-12 had 

been flown in by Ethiopian Airlines. 

The Ivorian authorities obstruct 

ONUCI, whose inspectors have 

been refused permission to search 

the hangar where the helicopter is 

kept and have called off at least one 

inspection due to threats. The panel 

notes that ONUCI must give at least six 

hours’ notice for almost all inspections, 

which are refused for Gbagbo’s home 

area of Gagnoa and for key units of the 

presidential guard and gendarmerie. 

Gold production is set to rise as 

the exploration phase moves into 

production. The only operational 

commercial mine is in the west, 

which produced 41,000 ounces in 

2005. South Africa’s Randgold is 

diamond dollars 

exploring with the blessing of the rebel 

leadership at its Tongon site (believed 

to hold the largest gold reserves) and 

Australia’s Equigold is exploring at 

Bonikro in the south, targeting output 

there of 130,000 to 150,000 ounces 

a year. With Britain’s Cluff Mining 

aiming to produce 40,000 ounces a 

year at its Angovia site, Côte d’Ivoire’s 

output could reach 300,000 ounces a 

year if these projects start. 

The initial one-year, UN-backed 

extension of Gbagbo’s term in office 

was due to end on 31 October. Its 

prolongation for another year has been 

accompanied by extremist statements 

from Gbagbo and the President of his 

Front Populaire Ivoirien (FPI), Pascal 

Affi N’Guessan. Gbagbo appealed to 

the ECOWAS meeting for an end to 

the buffer zone between rebels and 

loyalists, bringing their troops face to 

face. He also called for a new premier 

and accused the UN’s Working Group 

of planning to oust him. 

Affi N’Guessan has been even more 

provocative, attracting condemnation 

from Kofi Annan and ECOWAS which, 

he said on 3 October, ‘must not forget 

that it has millions of its nationals here 

in Côte d’Ivoire. Each one of these 

countries must think about them, so 

that they don’t create disorder here’. 

He talks of chasing Licorne out of the 

country, disarming the rebels by force, 

and said that after 31 October ‘the 

purge will begin in the government’s 

zone’. Gbagbo’s foreign friends include 

China, which invited him to a Sino- 

African summit on 3-5 November. 

His party’s newspaper claims China 

and Russia oppose a Security Council 

proposal to sanction Affi N’Guessan 

and Speaker Mamadou Koulibaly. l 

Diamonds slip through the export ban imposed on Côte d’Ivoire last 

year. Many are now routed through Ghana. Production is estimated at 

between 114,000 and 214,000 carats, compared with 300,000 carats prewar. 

Most of the diamonds come from alluvial deposits in the Bobi dyke 

area near Séguéla town, run by Zacharia Kone of the Forces Nouvelles, 

which denies the UN panel’s claim that it organises the mining. 

Two unnamed Belgian diamond brokers moved to Ghana when the war 

broke out and have a thriving business there, possibly smuggling rebel 

stones to Israel; specialist Belgian police are investigating. Ghana’s 

recorded diamond output has risen steadily from 626,840 carats in 2000 

to 1.014 million carats in 2005; in the first quarter of 2006 it was 317,000 

carats. Since Ghana’s own production appears to be falling, the exports 

presumably originate in Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire. l 


economy 

east africa 

No Eassy rider 

Kenya and South Africa are 

in heated dispute over the 

control and cost of a crucial African 

development project – a fibre-optic 

cable to surround the continent and 

link it to the world by 2008. 

One of its main components, 

the East African Submarine System 

(EASSy), would place 9,900 

kilometres of fibre beneath the sea, 

between Port Sudan in the north and 

Mtunzini in South Africa; it would 

link up with the SAT3 cable which 

starts in Portugal and connects West, 

Central and Southern Africa with 

Madagascar, India and Malaysia. 

The EASSy row embarrasses South 

Africa, which is promoting the 

project within the New Partnership 

for Africa’s Economic Development 

(NePAD), whose secretariat it hosts. 

Other member states and investors 

are frustrated by the resulting delay. 

EASSy would reduce the price of access 

to international broadband by 65 per 

cent. The average price in Africa for 1 

gigabyte per second (gbps) of data per 

month is US$1,800, 90 times the price 

in the United States. 

‘The cost of routing traffic 

internationally costs the continent 

$400 million annually, 

representing major capital flight 

out of Africa’, says Eric Osiakwan, 

Executive Secretary of the African 

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) 

Association. The main sticking 

points are ‘open access’ and the 

regulatory role of a government 

structure that would own the 

network. A protocol defining these 

matters was agreed upon in Kigali 

on 29 August, but of the 23 states 

involved only Tanzania, Uganda, 

Rwanda, Lesotho, Malawi, 

Madagascar and South Africa 

attended the signing. 

Both the African Development 

Bank and the World Bank want 

the EASSy project to use the ‘open 

access’ model which means that 

service providers could get access 

to the cable at cost – and sell its 

services on to customers in the region. 

The big foreign telecom companies 

and their state counterparts in Africa 

object because they would have to 

surrender a substantial chunk of their 

profitable business to much smaller 

companies and civic organisations. 

On 18 September, 31 telecom 

companies threatened to pull out of 

the project, saying the Kigali protocol 

was unworkable and would ‘delay the 

implementation of the EASSy cable 

to the extent of it being abandoned’. 

The Kenyan government had already 

said it might quit the project in favour 

of its own proposed undersea cable 

link The East African Marine Systems 

(TEAMS) between Mombasa and 

Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. 

The Permanent Secretary of 

Kenya’s Ministry of Communications, 

Bitange Ndemo, said Kenya would 

not sign the protocol unless the 

regulation issue is resolved. TEAMS 

could be cheaper and faster than the 

EASSy cable and start up next year. 

Moreover, says Ndemo, ‘NePAD is 

controlled via South Africa…first we 

want the EASSy project to be out of 

any governmental control and later 

on we can talk about the open access 

model.’ 

The head of NePAD’s East Africa 

commission, Dr. Henry Chasia, is 

Kenyan but questions his government’s 

position: ‘It would be regrettable if 

Kenya opted to go it alone and built 

its own under-sea fibre optic cable 

as this would weaken the EASSy 

initiative’. Telkom SA, South Africa’s 

main telecom company and one of the 

project’s main backers, has also said 

it may pull out because it might not 

be able to make enough return on its 

$10mn. investment. The government 

in Pretoria, keen to avoid losing face 

and needing plenty of bandwidth for 

the 2010 World Cup, may have other 

ideas. Industry sources say Telkom 

may simply be trying to strong-arm 

the government. 

Others say the project’s flaws 

include a lack of competition in who 

can bid, the unclear extent to which the 

project is controlled by governments 

and layers of bureaucracy where 

‘friends’ of member governments 

might be placed. Another signing 

ceremony is scheduled for 16 

November in South Africa, but Kenya 

will not attend unless its concerns 

about over-regulation and Pretoria’s 

monopolisation of the process are 

addressed. 

Its own undersea link would be an 

insurance policy. Uganda will host 

next year’s Commonwealth Heads 

of Government Meeting; its private 

telecom companies might jump ship 

and join Kenya if TEAMS, built by 

Kenya Data Networks, subcontracted 

to Flag Telecom, arrives first with its 

promised very low tariffs, at $150 

per megabyte per second (mbps) per 

month. EASSy’s backers are confident 

that their scheme will be realised by 

the end of 2008. But are the investors 

still interested and will they remain 

so when TEAMS comes on stream l 

1 0 2 0 O c t o b e r 2 0 0 6 - V o l 4 7 - N ° 2 1 - A f r i c a C o n f i d e n t i a l

gabon/equatorial guinea 

No man an island 

United Nations Secretary General 

Kofi Annan wanted to resolve a 

35-year old territorial dispute between 

Equatorial Guinea and Gabon before 

his tenure ends. That looks doubtful. 

The minuscule, uninhabited islands 

of Mbanié, Cocotiers and Conga are 

probably rich in oil and gas, and their 

territorial waters towards São Tomé 

e Príncipe contain richer known 

reserves. The conflict lay dormant 

in the 1970s and restarted when 

President Omar Bongo Ondimba’s 

son, Ali Ben Bongo, visited the islands 

in February 2003. Gabon has granted 

exploration rights in two areas of 

the disputed territory: Royal Dutch 

Shell through its Igoumou license and 

Anadarko in Agali. Neither company 

will explore until legal title is settled. 

Both governments have wavered over 

creating a joint exploitation zone for 

the islands in Corsico Bay. 

There was to be a tense 1-5 October 

summit in Geneva. Squabbles within 

Gabon’s elite ensure that there will 

be little progress, having caused the 

summit’s cancellation. Bongo’s loyal 

Union newspaper broke the story on 

13 September that ministers sought 

to sell for cash, these ‘integral’ parts 

of Gabonese national territory. The 

private press revealed the identities of 

the plotters: Interior Minister André 

Mba Obame and Communications 

Minister René Ndemezo’ Obiang. 

Buying the islands does not appeal to 

Malabo as it would legitimise Gabon’s 

claim, causing Equato-Guinean 

President Teodoro Obiang Nguema 

Mbasogo to lose face. 

The weekly Echos du Nord was hit 

with a three-month ban by the Conseil 

National de la Communication (CNC) 

on 30 September for sowing doubt 

as to Gabon’s ownership of the isles; 

when its Editor, Désiré Ename, went 

on hunger strike, the CNC reduced the 

ban to one month. Bongo called for an 

investigation, urging the CNC to strike 

off all media owned or supported by 

government members. Bongo’s loyal 

opposition has rallied to his side; 

Pierre Mamboundou, Zacharie 

Myboto and François Ebanet call for 

the conspirators’ resignation, while 

supporting Libreville against Malabo. 

A resolution to the Mbanié dispute 

was sought throughout the 1970s, 

when Malabo was Libreville’s poor 

relation. Equatorial Guinea has since 

replaced Gabon as Africa’s third largest 

oil producer; Gabon is sixth. Equatorial 

Guinea’s GDP grew by 30 per cent and 

6.4 per cent in 2004 and 2005; Gabon 

expects 2.4 per cent growth in 2006. 

Malabo’s continued success depends 

on maintaining high production and 

realising Obiang Nguema’s desire to 

renegotiate oil contracts. 

The oil boom helped Gabon reap 

46.7 billion CFA francs (US$ 84 

million) for the 2006 budget. 2007 is 

less rosy; budgetary forecasts released 

on 12 October predict a further 3.2 per 

cent drop in production and 4.4 per 

cent drop in receipts. At the key Rabi- 

Kounga well, Shell produces 55,000 

barrels per day, down from 217,000 in 

1997. Gabon’s debts represent 40 per 

cent of GDP, and in September, Foreign 

Minister Jean Ping announced plans 

to increase them with a $3 billion, iron 

ore-backed loan from China’s Exim 

Bank for infrastructure to exploit 

reserves in Belinga (AC Vol 47 No 14). 

Equatorial Guinea and Gabon are 

not best friends. Rivalry sees the United 

States supporting ‘good friend’ and $5 

bn. investment, Obiang Nguema, while 

increasing its military presence in the 

Gulf of Guinea; French companies seek 

interests in infrastructure projects in 

Equatorial Guinea. On the diplomatic 

front, Bongo’s mediations have failed 

in Côte d’Ivoire and Congo-Kinshasa, 

while Malabo’s star is rising as its fuel 

and petrodollars buy good relations 

with Zimbabwe. 

In the autumnal years of the two 

regimes, an amicable resolution to the 

Mbanié affair is unlikely but, for now, 

no deal is better than a bad deal. l 

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A f r i c a C o n f i d e n t i a l - 2 0 O c t o b e r 2 0 0 6 - V o l 4 7 - N ° 2 1 1 1

pointers 

Sudan/Saudi Arabia 

sIGNAL FROM SAUDI 

n An astonishing attack on Sudanese 

President Omer Hassan Ahmed el Beshir 

signalling a crack in Arab solidarity over 

Khartoum’s policy on Darfur appeared 

in the 8 October edition of the Saudi 

Arabian daily Al Asharq al Awsat, which 

is close to the rulers in Riyadh. ‘It is now 

obvious to everyone that the Sudanese 

regime has been thriving on crises since 

it came to power in 1989,’ declared 

former Editor Abdel Rahman al Rashid, 

who is close to the royals and now works 

at Al Arabiya television. 

Khartoum’s Islamist regime courts 

Arabs and Muslims by accusing advocates 

of United Nations intervention of 

colonialism, Zionism and Islamophobia. 

‘Unfortunately – and like other Arab 

governments – the Sudanese President 

enjoys a collective Arab cover for major 

crimes that are being committed by 

militias that belong to his regime’, said 

Abdel Rahman. ‘The Arabs know that the 

issue of Darfur is real and that its woes 

are more than what is happening in Iraq, 

Palestine and Lebanon put together’. 

Abdel Rahman suggests there is now 

Arab support for military intervention 

in Darfur: ‘ [Omer el Beshir] does not 

know that the most tolerant countries 

no longer object to ending the tragedy in 

any way, including military means’. 

Namibia 

Kobi’s refuge 

n Former Chief Executive of United 

States-based Comverse Inc. Jacob ‘Kobi’ 

Alexander was arrested in Windhoek on 

27 September on an Interpol warrant but 

he has formed some powerful business 

and political connections in Windhoek 

and is determined to fight extradition. 

Alexander, 54, an Israeli high-tech 

entrepreneur with US residency, has 

invested in a low cost housing business 

with Brigadier Mathias Shiweda, 

Managing Director of the militaryowned 

August 26 Holdings, which makes 

armoured cars and army uniforms and 

mines diamonds in Congo-Kinshasa. 

A lower court in Windhoek heard 

that Alexander also transferred some 

Namibian $N16 million (US$2.1 mn.) into 

lawyer Richard Metcalfe’s trust account. 

Alexander is accused of benefiting from 

illegal payments on stock options at 

Comverse from 1998-2000. 

Magistrate Uaatjo Uanivi was 

sufficiently impressed by Alexander’s 

local commitment to grant bail of $1.36 

mn. Alexander has also obtained a twoyear 

work permit in record time. The US 

Department of Justice must now rely 

on the local authorities to prove that 

Alexander’s alleged crimes would also 

be crimes in Namibia. 

Uganda 

Riek’s battalion 

n The government of Southern Sudan 

has finally deployed a battalion of the 

Sudan People’s Liberation Army to the 

assembly area that 800 Lord’s Resistance 

Army (LRA) fighters abandoned last 

month because they had no protection 

from Uganda’s soldiers there. The next 

step is to get the LRA back to the assembly 

area in the village of Owiny-Ki-Bul. 

The Uganda People’s Defence Force 

clashed with LRA fighters on 16-17 

October in four separate engagements 

near Bilinyang, close to a UPDF military 

outpost about 130 kilometres south of 

Juba, where the LRA and the Ugandan 

government have been negotiating 

a peace agreement since July. The 

LRA abandoned Owiny-Ki-Bul on 28 

September, a day after Ugandan troops 

had approached the area to escort a 

group of Kampala-based diplomats and 

journalists who wanted to visit them. 

The incidents embarrassed the Southern 

government, whose Vice-President, Riek 

Machar Teny-Dhurgon, takes a leading 

role in the talks. 

The peace talks are inching forward: 

the two sides are still discussing agenda 

item two, dealing with general economic 

and political issues. We hear President 

Yoweri Museveni plans to visit Juba to 

reinvigorate the talks and bolster his 

negotiators, led by Interior Minister 

Ruhakana Rugunda. 

Côte d’Ivoire 

Toxic trials 

n International oil traders Trafigura’s 

Chief Executive, Claude Dauphin, and 

his West Africa Manager Jean-Pierre 

Valentini remain in Abidjan’s highsecurity 

Maison d’Arrêt et de Correction 

gaol. Trafigura denies wrong-doing over 

the dumping of 500 cubic metres of toxic 

waste in Abidjan, causing ten deaths and 

harming tens of thousands of Abidjanais. 

But Tommy, the Ivorian company which 

accepted the waste from the Probo Koala 

ship, which had been leased by Trafigura, 

told the Centre Ivoirien Antipollution that 

water ‘accidentally spilt’ after rinsing out 

its trucks was later pumped back and 

stocked in a ‘secure place’. 

Journalists from Abidjan’s Le 

Jour Plus were fined CFA15 million 

(US$29,000) for reporting that first lady 

Simone Gbagbo was behind Tommy’s 

creation and licensing. In Estonia, where 

the Probo Koala later offloaded 567 tons 

of waste for treatment, the prosecutor’s 

office said gasoline products had been 

processed into low-grade petrol on 

board. The toxic waste was a by-product 

of this process which involves naphtha – a 

product for which Trafigura has tendered 

in large quantities in India and the United 

States. Lobbyists Greenpeace report that 

another vessel leased by Trafigura, the 

Probo Emu, recently made round-trips 

between Gibraltar and Nigeria, which 

buys huge shipments of low-grade and 

environmentally hazardous petrol. 

Trafigura confirmed that the Probo 

Emu had been used to mix ‘different 

gasoline blendstocks’ to meet the ‘specific 

requirements of different customers’. 

African Union/NePAD 

contretemps 

n The rivalry between the African 

Union (AU) and the New Programme for 

Africa’s Economic Development (NePAD) 

resurfaced at a conference on China in 

Africa, organised by the South African 

Institute of International Affairs and 

Royal African Society, on 16-17 October 

in Johannesburg. AU member states 

voted to make NePAD an AU programme. 

Yet NePAD host, South Africa, is keeping 

the NePAD secretariat independent 

in Johannesburg. This infuriates AU 

officials, who want it relocated to Addis 

Ababa and integrated into the AU. 

AU President Alpha Oumar Konaré 

wanted to use the China in Africa 

conference as a preparatory meeting for 

the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation 

in Beijing on 3-5 November. The 

organisers moved the date forward and 

Konaré agreed to open the meeting. 

NePAD offered to co-host the meeting, 

promising to finance delegations from 

across Africa; it also wanted a third day 

with a closed policy session for African 

delegates. But when Konaré heard of 

NePAD’s involvement he pulled out. ‘In 

order that there be no discordance, it 

would be better you continue …. with 

the NePAD secretariat’ he wrote to the 

organisers in August. 

1 2 2 0 O c t o b e r 2 0 0 6 - V o l 4 7 - N ° 2 1 - A f r i c a C o n f i d e n t i a l

Part 3 



Murungaru’s Undated 

Memorandum 

26 



Part 3 


Kenya Navy Jasiri - Mombasa 

OSIEA 


27

– 

KENYA NAVY OCEANOGRAPHIC SURVEY VESSEL – “JASIRI MOMBASA” 

Project Name 

Contract 

Date 

GOK 

Officials 

Contractor 

& 

Sub-Contractor 

Financier 

(signatory) Value Value Interest 

(Ksh) (Euro) 

Total 

paid to end of 

Creditor 

and 

repayment 

terms outstanding outstanding outstanding outstanding 

June 2005 

(Kshs) June 2003 June 2004 June 2005 June 2006 

Construction of 15/07/03 Sammy Kyungu Euromarine Euromarine 925,546,600 10,399,400 4.8% Principal 432,493,201.15 

Oceanographic 

Survey Chris Murungaru Industries Industries Interest 40,460,671.65 

Vessel Joseph Magari (J.K. Mario) Total 472,953,872.80 

for Kenya 

Navy David Mwiraria 

(Department of 

Defence) 

Credit 

Lyonais 

Bank 

Specifications 

– frigate – 

1,400 tons – 

85 metres long 

– 13 metres 

wide (hull) – 

maximum 

speed 28 knots 15/07/03 Sammy Kyungu (sub-contractor 

Chris Murungaru 

Impressa 

De 

Financas 

International 

Ltd 1,335,000,000 15,000,000 4.8% Principal 197,954,169.70 

Astilleros Gondan, 

Spain) Interest 63,708,783.25 

Joseph Magari Total 261,662,952.95 

Dave Mwiraria 

(Ricardo 

Harris) 

Navigia 

15/07/03 Sammy Kyungu 

Capital 2,367,186,400 26,597,600 4.8% Principal 313,347,692.35 

Chris Murungaru 

International 

Ltd Interest 124,371,620.35 

Loan of Euro 

51,997,000 

co-financed 

by 

Euromarine, 

Impressas, 

Navigia 

Capital 

Repayable 

commencing 

31st July 

2003 and 

ending 2010. 

0 

4,057,624,812.00 3,889,071,954.00 3,968,876,331.00 

Joseph Magari (not signed) Total 437,719,312.70 

David Mwiraria 

4,627,733,000 51,997,000 

Total 

paid 1,782,581,343.85 

Sources: MOJCA Press Statement September 9, 2006; Controller and Auditor General’s Special Audit Report April 2006; MOF External Statement of Public Debt 2006; Parliamentary Defence Committee Fact Finding Visit Report October 2006 

Copyright Mars Group Kenya. www.marsgroupkenya.org

Navy story.indd - Mars Group Kenya Publications

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