On Sunday March 3, the Independent Anti-Corruption Office (Bianco) revealed the existence of a system of embezzlement involving several senior officials of the company. These practices would have made it possible to divert at least eight billion ariary while users for their part suffer from incessant load shedding and water cuts.
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With our correspondent in Antananarivo, Pauline Le Troquier
In the conclusions of its investigation, Bianco points to a system “ well-established » abuse of office and embezzlement. The report is based on a case of purchases of generators dedicated to running the Jirama stations.
When launching this call for tenders, the public company invoked an emergency nature in the face of water distribution problems. As a result, the usual procedure governed by the principles of transparency and competition of the public procurement code is circumvented. A first Jirama agent validates this urgency. A second agent awards the contract to a shell company.
Third actor in play, the manager of the complicit company. He buys the generators from the real supplier before overcharging colossal sums from Jirama.
In all, fifteen people suspected of being involved in the affair were brought before the prosecution of the Anti-Corruption Unit (PAC) in Antananarivo. Three of them are currently in pre-trial detention: an executive and a member of the board of directors of Jirama as well as the accomplice supplier.
The Bianco, for its part, believes that it is time “ to stop the bleeding » within the state company undermined for years by scandals of embezzlement of public money. So many funds not allocated to users, affected on a daily basis by the lack of water and electricity. Asked by RFI, Jirama did not wish to react to the affair.