2023-09-15 08:00:59
In an interview given to a media pool including Guinee360.com, lawyer Alhassane Makanera Kaké spoke on several subjects which are fueling socio-political news in recent times in Guinea. The teacher-researcher takes stock of the two years of management of the CNRD and makes proposals for the success of the transition. Mr. Kaké also spoke out on the Amending Finance Law (LFR 2023), the scandals of the renovation of the Prime Ministers’ residence and the extension of the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and the Digital Economy. To “straighten” the transition which, according to him, lacks “readability” on certain aspects, the professor of public finance law asks the head of the junta, Colonel Mamadi Doumbouya, to form a government of national unity.
Guinee360.com: The CNRD has just celebrated year 2 of its accession to power. How do you assess his record?
Alhassane Machinery: Frankly, it is difficult to evaluate the action of the CNRD. For the simple reason, for the first time, when the Transition Charter was promulgated, I openly declared that this Charter has inadequacies because it should say exactly what the CNRD should do. For me, the management of the transition should be clear, defined and even dated. Unfortunately, I was not heard. We could have had additional instruments to say what the CNRD must do during the transition. It wasn’t done. When we say that we must evaluate, we are going to evaluate it in relation to what? It’s very complicated. It’s like if you put students in a class, you don’t give them the subjects they need to learn, they go from left to right, some learn physics, others geography, others history, so on. Really, I wonder how I evaluate the CNRD.
Do you mean that the CNRD has no balance sheet?
No, there is a balance sheet. But is that what they were asked to do during the transition? That’s my question because there are evaluation objectives. There is what we evaluate. But in reality what are we evaluating? That’s my question.
However, the CNRD is pleased to have created road infrastructure. On the other hand, the Minister of Territorial Administration reassures that the government is ahead in terms of the execution of the transition timetable. What do you think?
Let’s start word by word. Is it written in the Charter that during the transition, we must build road infrastructure? That’s my question. So, we missed things from the start. Now, when we say that we have to look at what they have done, even what does not fall within the framework of the transition, what they should do, and what the others have done, that is a another dimension of comparison. Is renovating administrative buildings linked to the transition or is it detachable from the transition? Because, for me, the fundamental element of the transition can only be the actions that cannot be detached from the transition. But, we would have to agree on what we should do during the transition. Now, if we make an overall assessment, I saw roads that have been made and buildings that have been renovated. But, what I really liked, if I talk about governance, the government has been proactive, it must be recognized when our compatriots are in difficulty in other countries, we did not experience that in Guinea. We put that to their credit.
Several actors already fear a shift in the transition timetable. Do you share this fear?
For me, we do not think about the transition in terms of deadline, but in terms of the objective to be achieved and in terms of participation. I wonder why we say that we need a military president to head the transition. For me, this is a debate that we should open when power has been taken. In the transition, everyone must be involved. Why not set up a government of national unity instead of a government targeted at a group of people? This government of national unity works for the whole nation. But, I fail to see how a single team works for the whole nation. Because, for me, no one should be in prison during the transition, everyone comes and we resolve all the questions, we put in place a government of national unity which takes care of everything. This has always been my proposal and this is my vision of the transition.
The Prime Minister, Bernard Goumou, and the government spokesperson, Ousmane Gaoual Diallo, are accused of overbilling in the award of public contracts as part of the renovation of state buildings. What do you know about it?
I will start by saying that there are two methods of procurement in Guinea. There is what we call a call for tenders, that is to say a call for competition, and there is the exemption we call by mutual agreement. But be careful, over-the-counter means that the administration can contract with its co-contractor without launching a call for tenders, but without also excluding that the consultation is restricted. But over-the-counter is only possible in the following cases. When it is a security and national defense market, it is necessarily over the counter. But there are conditions which can result in a contract being awarded over the counter which is neither defense nor national security. In this case, the agreement of the Minister in charge of the Economy and Finance would absolutely be required. Then, if there is this agreement, the letter must justify that we must go by mutual agreement and not by the normal method. And also, the company which obtains the over-the-counter agreement has the obligation to publish its balance sheet, its income statement to enable its price to be determined. This is exactly what allows you to understand and know if there is overbilling or not. The question that is asked which we can try to answer is: was there compliance with the procedure in this matter? It is up to the judge to say that. A lawyer says the law, the judge gives the judgment. Here’s a little of what I mean on this issue.
The government presented the draft amending finance law 2023 on September 11 to the CNT. What is your observation about its content?
For the Amending Finance Law (LFR), we noted that there is a drop in spending. And in certain places, notably at the customs level, there was also a drop in revenue. The means of financing the deficit equal to 3.77% of GDP have become enormous. And the sources of financing are not reliable enough. This is why we do not understand the projects envisaged to resolve this issue. However, as it is a supplementary finance law, it is not as important. But, in reality, it would still be necessary for the initial Finance Law (LFI 2024) to have much more courage, objectivity and vision to make the 2024 budget, a budget with the status of development of the Guinea because practically the other belongs to the past.
What about the 2024-2026 budget programming?
I will only tell you that the CNRD and the CNT do not need a program budget. It is a central administration. These are the salaries that are paid. They do not put themselves in an investment framework. It’s not the same CNT that does it. So, we must first say when do we need a programming budget and who should benefit? The law must say so. I clearly say that the CNT does not need a programming budget.
The Minister of Territorial Administration recently met with prefects and governors to better equip them on how to manage decentralized administration.
Observers believe that this reflects the CNRD’s desire to remain in power. What is your reading?
It’s a very good thing to equip them on how to manage administration. But, I think we can do better than what has been done. It’s really about training them. We must clearly establish a training framework and there must be an obligation to select among trained agents who are capable of carrying out a service. But, we can’t pick up everyone to say I’m training. I am for everything that concerns strengthening the capacity of the administration because the real problem in Guinea is our administration. We take whoever we want, we entrust them to any position. So when we want to train these people, we have to be proud of it. Now, the CNRD, for its little remaining time, can carry out a training program, but the administration needs ongoing training.
A recent decision by the government gave these governors the power to appoint heads of neighborhoods and districts. What is your analysis?
This is a debate that we will leave to politicians. Even if the law provided for something, but you found that the law was eliminated. As the law has been annulled, we no longer speak of the law. But a politician must think the worst. But to date, I cannot say that there is something behind it.
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