Former Guinean Prime Minister Ibrahima Fofana will be prosecuted over the alleged embezzlement of more than $4 million, the justice ministry formally announced Monday.
The embattled politician is already under investigation for alleged misappropriation of more than 40 million dollars intended for the management of the Covid-19 epidemic. The charges relate to payments of 41 billion Guinean francs (4.5 million euros) and $400,000 in 2020.
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“I am directing you to initiate legal proceedings against Mr. Ibrahima Kassory Fofana (…) for alleged embezzlement, money laundering, corruption and complicity,” Justice Minister Alphonse Charles Wright wrote in a letter to the attorney general. The minister also ordered charges against a former economic and financial advisor to the Prime Minister, Ansoumane Camara, and several officials of the National Agency for Economic and Social Inclusion (Anies), the agency responsible for implementing the anti-poverty program under investigation.
The military regime in Guinea is living up to its promise to fight corruption by going after the high and mighty of the former political class. On July 15, Alphonse Charles Wright, then attorney general, announced that Fofana was under investigation for misappropriating $46.2 million intended for the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
Fofana, who has been in jail since April, served as Prime Minister under former President Alpha Conde from May 2018 until September 2021, when the government was toppled in a military coup.