Chad: Presidential secretary arrested

  1. Posted on Monday 2 November 2009 - 10:50
    KingsleyKobo
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    Kingsley Kobo, AfricaNews reporter in Abidjan, Ivory Coast
    A top government official in Chad has been arrested. The Secretary General of the Presidency and Acting Secretary General of MPs of the ruling party, Haroun Kabadi, has been incarcerated for allegedly taking kickbacks and awarding contracts to a businessman at the Ministry of Education.
    chad prez secretary
    He was picked up by the police at his private residence on Sunday morning and taken into custody, according to Radio France International (RFI).

    A panel of experts investigating fraudulent activities at the country’s ministry of education said a businessman had confessed giving worthy kickbacks to Kabadi in order to obtain a contract for the distribution of books and manuals worth 1.5 billions francs cfa ($3.37 million).

    Kabadi denied having received any payoff. His lawyer said his client had never met the merchant in question.

    “It’s all a political strategy to damage the character of Mr. Kabadi,” lawyer Jean-Bernard Padaré told RFI. “We’re moving towards legislative and presidential elections and you know my client is a probable next prime minister and he’s the one to lead the campaigns, so to discredit him and the ruling party, they brought this whole thing up.”

    State prosecutor, Hamza Abdul at a news conference in N’djamena, Chad’s capital, on Sunday afternoon told reporters: “Haroun Kabadi is a suspect among others. They are currently thirty from different jurisdictions to be charged. Those who say we’re trying to manipulate the court with this case are really misinformed and do not know the merits of the case. There is no pressure or manipulation.”

    Kabadi has not been formally charged. He would appear in court on Monday, according to the state prosecutor. Observers, according local newspapers, say it is a good step towards fighting impunity in “one of Africa’s most corrupt nations.”

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