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14 Drillers in the mist | September 2014Soco’s relationship with Vunabandi needs to beinvestigated – by Soco itself and, as Global Witnessis urging, by British and US authorities. His rolewith Soco appears to have been a serious conflict ofinterest at the very least. Vunabandi did not disclosehis consultancy with the company in meetings withlocal communities and activists. 78 At worst, Soco’sarrangement with him could have constitutedbribery – particularly if payments to Vunabandi wentbeyond the reimbursement of expenses and if hewent beyond his official remit as a public offical. TheUK Bribery Act came into force in July 2011, towardsthe end of Vunabandi’s consultancy with Soco.After the consultancy ended, Vunabandi’s namecontinued to come up. A Soco official, discussing aphoney demonstration funded by the company, saidVunabandi helped arrange it (see section below: Thespontaneous demonstration). A middleman offeringbribes to the park ranger Rodrigue Katembo saidin a recorded meeting that he had been toldto make the approach by Vunabandi. Both thedemonstration and the attempted bribery occurredduring the time that Vunabandi was a minister.The arrangement with Vunabandi raises questionsnot just about Soco’s regional staff and contractors,but also about how executives and senior staffunderstood his role. Vunabandi told Gouby that hehad been a friend of Soco’s Africa head Serge Lescautsince 2005. The MP has also praised Soco at a publicmeeting in the presence of Lescaut, Soco chairmanRui de Sousa and Congo office head José Sangwa,held the same month that his consultancy started.At the event in western Congo, reportedly attendedby more than 2,000 people, he said: “I am pleased tosay that this company will be in North Kivu soon –more precisely on Block 5. We will be very happy towelcome them and aid them in their work.” 79The UK Bribery Act makes it a crime for Britishcompanies to bribe or offer a bribe to a foreignpublic official. It is also a crime for a firm to fail toprevent bribery on its behalf (see box: UK, US andCongolese bribery laws). The law says that bribery istaken to occur when an official is rewarded for the“improper performance” of his function, defined bythe UK’s justice ministry as acting in breach of goodfaith or a position of trust.The justice ministry’s guidance on the Bribery Actsays that reasonable expenses and some winingand dining are most unlikely to constitute bribery.However, if this slips into over-generous treatmentthe line into illegality could be crossed. “The higherthe expenditure… the greater the inference thatit is intended to influence the official”, the justiceministry says.UK, US AND CONGOLESEBRIBERY LAWSThe UK Bribery Act, which came into force inJuly 2011, makes it a crime for British companiesor persons to bribe or offer to bribe a foreignpublic official anywhere in the world. The Act alsomakes it a crime for a company to fail to preventbribery on its behalf by an “employee, agent orsubsidiary” of the company. In some cases, seniorcompany officials can be held personally liable. 87If bribery is proven to have occurred, a companycould defend itself by claiming to have had“adequate procedures” in place to prevent anassociated person from committing bribery.The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act passed in1977 likewise makes bribery of foreign officialsby American businesses or citizens a crime.Like the UK Bribery Act it extends to bribery bythird party agents. 88 A company’s managementcan be held responsible for “wilful blindness”or purposely not informing themselves ofsuspected wrongdoing. 89Although Soco is based in London, its threeexecutive directors - Ed Story, Roger Cagle andCynthia Cagle - are American citizens. 90 Ed Storyand Roger Cagle are both employed through a“wholly owned subsidiary” company registered inDelaware. 91 They thus come under the scope ofUS corruption law.Congo’s 2005 anti-corruption law makes it acrime to, “offer or give directly or indirectly toa public official” a sum of money in order toobtain favourable treatment. 92
Drillers in the mist | September 201415Soco did not reply to questions e-mailed by GlobalWitness in May 2014 on its relationship withVunabandi, including “What payments and benefits– if any – have Soco, directly or indirectly, givento Vunabandi?” However, asked again about this ina meeting that month, a Soco spokesperson said:“we don’t allow any sort of political donations orpolitical endorsement. If something has happenedthat breaches our code we will investigate”. Socosays it has not breached the UK Bribery Act.The village chief and his aides – carrying outSoco’s dirty work?The fourth key ally of Soco was a regional traditionalchief for an area that includes Nyakakoma. TheMwami (Chief) Ndeze has stood alongside Socoofficials in meetings aimed at winning over thesupport of local communities along Lake Edward. 80Katembo met with one of the Mwami’s key aides –Kamari Birahira, who wields considerable power inNyakakoma as the Mwami’s number two there andhis chief tax collector. 81 Katembo made undercoverrecordings of meetings in June 2012 and July2013, during which Birahira offered him bribes tocooperate with Soco. There is no evidence that thiswas authorised by Soco.Birahira told Katembo that the ranger was “thelock” to access Virunga and that the two of themshould collaborate “to make good profits fromSoco”. National parks officials giving permissionto Soco to enter the park “must be paid”, he said.“There is money that will be paid… to the ICCN andit is a large amount.” 82“You get your cut and maybe you give me a littleof what they give you.” 83Birahira said he was acting under the instructions ofthe Mwami and of Vunabandi, the MP. Vunabandisuggested the approach to Katembo in the firstplace, Birahira said, and the Mwami would laterfollow up the matter with Vunabandi. 84Both the Mwami Ndeze and Birahira were wellknown to Soco. Soco’s operations supervisor ineastern Congo was recorded by Gouby in 2012saying that the Mwami is a “very important person”and a “good friend”, and had promised to providepeople to accompany Soco on a helicopter flight. 85Birahira took part in a Soco helicopter flight toNyakakoma in July 2013 to choose the site of thecompany’s base camp along with Pieter Kock fromSoco security contractors SSC, and Major Feruzi. 86The “spontaneous” demonstration – Soco paysvillagers to hold a rallySoco used its financial clout, handing cash tolocal organisations to give the impression that oilexploration had popular support.In late March 2012 activists and traditional chiefsgathered in the town of Vitshumbi, alongside LakeEdward, to hold a meeting on Soco’s plans, endingit by signing a petition saying they “condemn anyexploration and… any production of oil in themiddle of Virunga”. 93 Soco organised a rally eightdays later in the same town, featuring live musicand a banner reading: “Soco for the developmentof our Lake Edward fishing community”.In a hut at the end of the day, video footage showsSoco agents giving 40 local organisations envelopesof money. They told them, “pick up your envelope,other things will come later … Don’t say oh, Socosent money or such things, do we agree?” 94In a conversation recorded undercover by Goubythree months after the demonstration, Soco’s FieldOperations Supervisor in eastern Congo, JulienLechenault, acknowledged that Soco had paid forthe demonstration. Lechenault, a geologist andFrench citizen who worked for the company forthree years, said: “money was made available to dothe opposite, an anti-demonstration. Completelystupid but we did it”. He then “transferred thevideos to Kinshasa”, presumably for the news. Askedby Gouby how he organised the demonstration,Lechenault said: “In fact, via Vunabandi, who is theminister. He’s our friend. He knows everyone. Justneed to send cash and it’s done”. 95In separate, undercover filming by Gouby inJune 2013, Vunabandi said: “There have beendemonstrations that took place, sometimesorganised by Soco”. 96Soco did not answer questions from Global Witnesson whether it “ever financed public demonstrationsin Congo”, including in Vitshumbi in April 2012.
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