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DAM-L World Bank reneges on pledge to fund prosecution of Lesotho trial/LS(fwd)
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Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2001 10:24:39 -0800
To: irn-safrica@netvista.net
From: Ryan Hoover <ryan@irn.org>
Subject: World Bank reneges on pledge to fund prosecution of Lesotho
trial/LS
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>Lesotho, South Africa, World Bank clash looming over 'crucial' corruption
>case
>BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Dec 10, 2001
>
>Text of report by South African newspaper Sunday Times web site on 9 December
>The Lesotho and South African governments are headed for a clash with the
>World Bank after the financial institution reneged on a promise to fund
>the kingdom's legal costs in a crucial corruption case.
>The World Bank undertook in November 1999 to help pay Lesotho's legal
>costs in a court case in which major Western multinationals stand accused
>of bribing officials involved in the Lesotho Highlands Water Project. The
>project's former chief executive, Masupha Ephraim Sole, has been on trial
>since June this year for allegedly accepting 12m rand in bribes.
>Charges have also been brought against international engineering
>consultancy companies from Canada and Germany. These trials are due to
>start in the new year. The case is being watched internationally as it is
>one of the few times companies accused of bribery have been put in the dock.
>The bank is a major backer of the project and was initially keen to help
>Lesotho because the landlocked nation's government argued that it did not
>have the resources to take on the might of multinationals.
>But, after several letters from Lesotho and South Africa, the World Bank
>said last month it would not be contributing to the trials. World Bank
>officials told the Lesotho government that the successful prosecution of
>the companies would result in fines that would recoup the government's
>legal costs.
>But senior Lesotho government officials told the Sunday Times that the
>cases could collapse because the big corporations' strategy was "to test
>the political and financial will to see these trials through".
>Andrew Macoun, of the World Bank, confirmed it would not be contributing
>to Lesotho's legal costs but said the bank was instead helping the country
>strengthen its systems to fight corruption.
>The Lesotho Highlands Water Project was initiated in the 1980s to build
>five dams to take water from Lesotho to South Africa. Construction on the
>first, the Katse Dam, has already been completed and water from the dam to
>Gauteng started flowing in 1998. Construction on the second dam, the
>Mohale, is under way.
>Lesotho's Foreign Affairs Minister, Tom Thabane, refused to comment on the
>dispute but said he was aware of the bank's commitment.
>Source: Sunday Times web site, Johannesburg, in English 9 Dec 01
Ryan Hoover
Africa Campaigns
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way
Berkeley, CA 94703
USA
Phone: (510) 848-1155 Fax: (510) 848-1008
www.irn.org
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