In the assessment of the incredible case of the acquisition of the port of Conakry, we do not smoke the same pipe in the Guinean executive in response to allegations of corruption Vincent Bolloré for “subordination of foreign public officials.”
If Albert Damantang Camara, the spokesman for the Guinean government, believes that “the concession port of Conakry was granted in strict compliance with the laws in force and states unequivocally that” Guinea is not concerned by these allegations, which do not make sense “according to statements relayed by Reuters on Tuesday, April 24 in Conakry, elsewhere the tone is for caution.
Thus, Cheick Sacko, the Guinean Minister of Justice, announced this Wednesday, April 25, 2018 his willingness to communicate widely on this issue. “Guinea will collaborate with France in this case,” he said.
The element that has aroused suspicion in the French courts is the under-billing of HAVAS communication services, which would have benefited Alpha Conde in 2010 during the presidential election that will allow him to access the power.
These suspicions will more or less be “comforted” when upon his accession to power in November 2010, Alpha Condé will terminate the contract that bound Guinea to the subsidiary of the group Necotrans, Getma, which had a 25-year operating contract container terminal of the Autonomous Port of Conakry (PAC).
The judicial soap opera
Then comes a legal battle between the Guinean State and Getma International before the Joint Court of Justice and Arbitration (CCJA), in 2014, the body of the organization for the harmonization in Africa of business law ( OHADA), which will conclude an “abusive breach of contract” and condemn Guinea to a heavy sentence since it will be required to pay Getma 38.5 million euros for damages.
Guinea will appeal this decision, which will result in the cancellation of this conviction in December 2015, two after the opening of the legal battle between the Guinean State and Getma.
However, the subsidiary of Necotrans not confessing defeat will open in 2016 another front against the Guinean State. This time with the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). This international arbitration court will also judge “illegal the termination in 2011 by Guinea of the concession granted to Getma” for the management of the container terminal of the port of Conakry with a conviction for compensation of 1 million euros in compensation , against more than a hundred million euros claimed.
Throughout the process, Guinea will remain intractable in its defense logic, accusing Getma officials of having acquired under the conditions of corruption, the management of the container terminal of the PAC to justify the termination of the contract and its granting to the group Bolloré.
And as luck would have it, the French justice system gets involved seven years after the Bolloré group was granted the license to operate the TAC at the port of Conakry in almost the same conditions as Lomé.
For sure, the soap opera is far from its epilogue.
