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The final report of the Court of Auditors on the management of funds to fight against Covid-19 provokes the anger of the opposition and civil society in Senegal who denounce embezzlement. The Senegalese government relates these accusations and claims that 99% of the funds were well managed. But these explanations did not convince part of the public.
With our correspondent in Dakar, Birahim Toure
“The heist of the century! », « the republic of thieves ! », « stay at home, we’ll rob you! “: these are the few murderous phrases relayed by the opposition, civil society and even journalists in Senegal in recent days, after the publication of the report of the Court of Auditors on the management of funds devoted to the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
We need explanations on the report of the court of auditors concerning the bad management of the funds of the #covid19. It is simply an abomination! The taxpayer’s money must be returned to the state coffers. pic.twitter.com/gexE1mhfpe
— Aminata TOURE (@aminatatoureklk) December 19, 2022
The government had organized a press conference on Friday, December 23 to try to defuse the controversy. In the end, the charm operation seems to have had the opposite effect. Several politicians, members of the opposition, say they are disappointed with this attempt at minimization, according to them.
7 billion CFA francs in damage
This is the case of the Yewwi Askan Wi coalition. This entity bringing together part of the opposition calls on the people to demonstrate on Friday, December 30 to force the government not to leave what it calls a forfeiture without follow-up.
The total damage is just under 7 billion CFA francs, or just over 10 million euros according to the government. The Senegalese Minister of Finance maintains that this represents less than 1% of the 1000 billion committed for the management of Covid-19.
A non-negligible sum, believe certain private media which, for several days, have been offering their readers, listeners and viewers summaries of the report of the Court of Auditors. The text, which covers nearly 180 pages, recommends for certain officials of the ministries involved in the management of these funds, the opening of judicial inquiries for various offenses including: overbilling, embezzlement of public funds, among others.