Guinea junta audits industry leaders

Guinea’s ruling junta has summoned former ministers and top business executives to appear Thursday before an audit commission investigating corruption, a public order published Wednesday said.

Top businessmen such as employers’ federation chief Mamadou Sylla and representatives of the country’s rich bauxite mines have also been summoned to appear before the commission.

Former sports minister Baidy Aribot faces questions over 14 million dollars allocated to the organisers of the African Cup of Nations in Ghana last year, while the commission is also to question former finance minister Ousmane Dore on the budget for Guinea’s 2008 celebrations of its 50th anniversary.

The session is to be held in the country’s biggest military camp, in the capital Conakry.

Military officers led by Captain Moussa Dadis Camara vowed to crack down on corruption after sweeping to power in the mineral-rich West African country in a December 23 coup following the death of president Lansana Conte.

More than a third of the world’s bauxite reserves are located in Guinea. Despite large reserves of gold, diamonds, iron and nickel, as well as recently-discovered uranium, Guinea is one of the world’s poorest countries.

Source: AFP