drillers_in_the_mist

Drillers in the mist | September 201413Soco paid Célestin Vunabandi – an MP for an area in Block 5 – every month as a “consultant”Vunabandi told Gouby in a covertly filmed interviewin December 2013 that he did not sign a contractas the company believed that this may not be legalunder British law. He said: “I remember when wediscussed with the Soco people at the time, wecame to the conclusion that, I believe, British lawdoes not allow for such a contract to be signedwith politicians… especially when it relates to thepromotion of a project”. 73“Of course, every time I was going somewhere…they had to compensate me and I was engagedevery month, it’s true,” he said. 74Despite the sensitivities around his work for thecompany, Vunabandi says in his LinkedIn profilethat he worked as a consultant to Soco, with therole of “facilitation and support in implementingthe oil exploration project in [Soco’s] Block 5” forSoco from July 2010 to August 2011. 75In Gouby’s recording, Vunabandi tells her thathis role was to get the local population to acceptoil exploration in Virunga, using his relationshipswith community leaders and local authorities.“I have very good relations with politicians of allcommunities. Soco people have certainly countedon that asset,” he said. 76Soco has also kept the MP sweet by employing hisbrother, Damas Vunabandi, as a protocol officer. 77Three sources from North Kivu told Global Witnessthat Vunabandi was the first person to hold publicmeetings about plans for oil exploration in Virunga,and that he did not reveal that he was a consultantfor Soco. “He said that he was there [to speakto us] because he is an MP and cared about thepopulation,” one of the sources told Global Witnesson condition of anonymity. It would be “serious” ifVunabandi had been paid by Soco, the source said,as it would mean that he was acting as “judge andjury at the same time”.