Conakry – Guinean opposition leader and former prime minister Cellou Dalein Diallo is under investigation for corruption over the sale of two planes and other property belonging to the national airline, according to a special prosecutor.
Diallo’s party denied any wrongdoing.
The allegations date back to 2002, when the assets of the bankrupt Air Guinea were sold off.
During the transfer of these state assets, some state officials “committed serious offences against the criminal law,” Ali Toure, prosecutor of the newly created Court of Repression of Economic and Financial Offences (Crief), said on national television late Tuesday.
He cited, in particular, Diallo, who was transport minister at the time of the alleged offences, as well as Cheick Amadou Camara, the then economy minister as well as the head of a privatisation service.
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Diallo ran unsuccessfully in three successive presidential elections in the former French colony of 13 million people.
The new allegations against him concern the sale of a Boeing 737, a Dash 7 turboprop aircraft along with the aviation company’s headquarters in Conakry and facilities at the airport, the prosecutor said.
The prosecutor’s office has requested an investigation for “embezzlement in the awarding of public contracts, corruption, illicit enrichment, misappropriation of public funds, concealment of property and complicity”, he added.
The former PM’s opposition UFDG party said that Diallo and the others named “have nothing to reproach themselves for”.
“They are happy to see that the case has been referred to the Crief in order to shed light on the matter,” the party statement added.
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Guinea currently has a transitional assembly, which is tasked with organising a return to civilian rule after the military overthrow last year of president Alpha Conde.
Diallo’s three attempts to win the presidency were against Conde, who was Guinea’s first democratically elected president and had been in power since 2010.
He was deposed on September 5 last year at the age of 83.
Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, who led the coup, has vowed to fight corruption and reform the electoral system in order to hold “free, credible and transparent” elections.
The junta has proceeded to kick out numerous executives from the state services.
Diallo served as prime minister between December 2004 and April 2006.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Getty Images
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