Michael Kevane

When you are with your daughter in Burkina Faso, and she doesn’t speak French, you spend a lot of time in the school pool.  What is she going to do, pluck chickens with Salimata?  She can’t, duh, she’s a vegetarian.

The problems at Ralph Lauren centered on misconduct at its Argentine subsidiary, which over a four-year period paid customs officials about $593,000 in bribes to import the company’s goods into the country. The illegal payments allowed the company to avoid customs inspections and related paperwork. A number of Argentine government officials were also given gifts, including the company’s coveted Ricky handbag, which today retails for as much as $22,500.

via Ralph Lauren Pays $1.6 Million to Resolve Bribery Case – NYTimes.com.

That’s me way in the upper left corner…. Was an interesting event.  I will blog about it later tonight or tomorrow.

Comme quoi, le sous-sol national, contrairement à ce que pensent les gens, n’est pas la vache à lait des compagnies minières qui disent s’acquitter de leurs obligations fiscales et contribuer au développement des communautés locales où elles sont implantées.

Reste maintenant à savoir si l’opération de communication suffira à convaincre les plus sceptiques de la contribution du secteur minier au développement du Burkina Faso, surtout que la croissance économique de 8%, enregistrés par le pays au cours de 2012 grâce notamment à l’exportation des produits miniers, a encore du mal à se traduire dans le panier de la ménagère.

via Exploitation des mines au Burkina : qui a dit que notre sous-sol était la vache à lait des compagnies minières ? – leFaso.net, l’actualité au Burkina Faso.

Le montant global de la fortune de Karim Wade serait en effet de 694 milliards de francs CFA, soit un peu plus d’un milliard d’euros. C’est en tout cas la somme évaluée par ses accusateurs, et c’est celle sur laquelle il devra se justifier.  Selon Me Amadou Sall, l’un des avocats de Karim Wade, il n’est fait mention à aucun moment du moindre centime caché sur un compte en banque à l’étranger mais il est reproché à Karim Wade d’être le propriétaire de Dubai Ports World, de la Banque marocaine du commerce extérieur, des sociétés AHS (Aviation Handling Service) au Sénégal, au Niger, au Ghana et en Jordanie. Karim Wade aurait aussi des actions dans l’aéroport de Malabo, en Guinée équatoriale.

via Sénégal : Karim Wade va devoir justifier sa fortune – Sénégal – RFI.

At ISO pool today, a birthday party for a kid… Leslie and Sukie saw the whole show while I was playing tennis.  I’ll post a few more pictures later….

A series of secret contracts seen by Global Witness spell out how BSGR promised Mamadie Touré (sometimes known as Mamadie Conté) millions of dollars and shares in the massive Simandou iron ore concession in return for help in acquiring the licences. Along with the stake in Simandou – a mountain range in the forested region of southeastern Guinea – Mme Touré was also promised stakes in uranium and bauxite mines that were granted to BSGR. Mme Touré was, at the time the deals were signed, one of the four wives of Guinean dictator Lansana Conté, who came to power in a 1984 coup, ruling the country until his death in December 2008. BSGR acquired the licences to Simandou two weeks before he died.

Just as contentious is the allegation by a Guinean mining review committee that BSGR asked Mme Touré to ensure that licences to Simandou were taken away from the company then holding them – the mining giant Rio Tinto. Blocks 1 and 2 – half the concession – were confiscated from Rio in July 2008, five months before they were granted to BSGR. The Guinean government said at the time that Rio had not met production deadlines.

A leaked video from a September 2006 meeting held by BSGR – an edited version of which we post online today – shows Mme Touré at the event with top BSGR officials. One of those who speak at the event is Frédéric Cilins, an adviser to BSGR who was arrested on Sunday in Florida, standing accused of obstructing a federal grand jury investigation into BSGR by seeking to destroy the secret contracts.

The FBI arrested Mr Cilins in a sting operation, after he allegedly tried to pay Mme Touré to hand over contracts she had signed in relation to Simandou in order for them to be destroyed, according to the indictment. Mr Cilins also instructed Mme Touré to tell the FBI, should she be questioned in relation to Simandou, that she had no involvement with BSGR, the indictment says.

Mme Touré now lives in Jacksonville, Florida, where she owns three properties. Property records indicate that Mr Cilins and another official who has worked for BSGR may have been tied to the purchase of these properties.

via Damning video and contracts show BSGR was lying in Guinea mining scandal | Global Witness.

The FAVL team in Ouaga (Michael, Donkoui, Krystle) spent the morning prioritizing our agenda, and then rearranging the office.  Nothing like a little furniture moving to make people feel better about the lives. Well, it works for me.  I went by the U.S. Embassy in the afternoon, and saw the acting PAO LaSean Brown, and good news!  We can do a book launch for the RWA books and my edited volume with Alain Sissao and Felix Compaore on reading, at the Embassy Library.  So check your calendar if you are in Ouagadougou on 16 May…. let me know!  Should be a nice way to get FAVL partners together, and celebrate some wonderful student books, and decent research, if I say so myself.

In the late afternoon played doubles at the Rec Center tennis courts. My partner was Roc, a doctor at Clinique LifeLong in Six Saints… we won!

Sukie and I went to watch the dressage/jumping.  Reminded me of my youth when we would watch my sisters and brothers, out at El Comandante and then later at the place in Isla Grande (must have been where Convention Center is today).

Anyway, what should we find at the club?  Elliot!

The facts seem to be that the health workers declared a 96 hour strike, and a woman died in childbirth, along with her baby, and the government promptly fired the person who should have been the anesthesiologist, and indicated the person might be tried.  So the public issue is whether the health workers could legitimately strike, and whether the government too arbitrarily pursues justice when and where it chooses.

De par ses principes fondamentaux, notre parti condamne toute forme d’impunité si les faits sont juridiquement constitués et déplore la perte effroyable de cette compatriote et de son bébé. Par contre, l’UNIR/PS ne saurait tolérer la démission du pouvoir de la 4e République face aux préoccupations existentielles de nos populations et l’injustice sciemment orchestrée qui sont en réalité les véritables sources de la lâcheté des uns et la révolte légitime des autres.

En effet, dans un pays où le pouvoir exécutif s’adonne à la confusion des rôles au point de se substituer à la justice, il lui est facile de tirer rapidement des conséquences quand et comme il veut selon les intérêts du régime afin de tenter de réaffirmer son autorité visiblement décadente. Mais, lorsqu’il s’agit par exemple d’un militaire du Régiment de sécurité présidentielle qui abat à bout portant une citoyenne, on lui assure toute la protection dont il a besoin pour ensuite confier à l’opinion la désormais célèbre formule au Burkina Faso selon laquelle la justice suit son cours.

via Lettre ouverte de l’UNIR/PS au Premier Ministre sur la grève du SYNTSHA – leFaso.net, l’actualité au Burkina Faso.

A Loser who can be suckered into bad bargains is set to become one of the Clueless. That’s why they are promoted: they are worth even more as Clueless pawns in the middle than as direct producers at the bottom, where the average, rationally-disengaged Loser will do. At the bottom, the overperformers can merely add a predictable amount of value. In the middle they can be used by the Sociopaths to escape the consequences of high-risk machinations like re-orgs.

via The Gervais Principle, Or The Office According to “The Office”.

As in: “Environ 2635 litres de carburant frelaté ont été saisis mercredi tôt dans la matinée le long des principales routes nationales partant de Ouagadougou … “

About 43, for you centigrade people.  This in the partial shade of our custard apple tree.  Our fans working nonstop.  Nice couscous today.  Sukie chowing down; we had a brief discussion of why anyone would eat at McDonald’s when they could eat couscous.  Long meeting again all morning with the FAVL team, and now they have headed back to villages, to start doing promotion for reading project.

Ugh… I daren’t actually listen.  But I actually did talk about the sequester in French, to VOA-West Africa.  I come on about half way through.

Sukie was signed up for djembe class (African drumming) at ISO, but I got the times wrong so we showed up at the end.  It looked fun, and several of her classmates are in the class.  So after we walked around and found two of the desert tortoises, happily munches the grass.  They are very very cool looking, and quite large.  For dinner Salimata cooked riz gras, vegetarian style, and it was very good; Sukie had two huge servings.  We had a Peace Corps volunteer, Amelia, over for dinner.  Then we went for ice cream at Festival de Glace.  I had noisette – hazelnut.  It was very good, made more delicious because the electricity went off for six hours in the afternoon, so it was really hot.  We’re talking 104 degrees outside.  Unable to work inside without any ventilation.  I worked all day with the FAVL team, including a lengthy discussion of the estimated costs of the refurbishment of a library building in Kiembara, where Amelia is based (and she heads off tomorrow for the village).

First the Sukie and personal news.  All was good.  We both got really good night sleep; Sukie fell asleep about 9pm reading Mr. Popper’s Penguins and she slept the whole night through, so now her plan tonite is to do exactly the same thing. Mr. Popper will be read promptly at 8:30, fall asleep on couch, be carried into bed.  Hope it works.  School was fine.  Yesterday French was awful, “Dad I don’t understand anything, the teacher only talks in French.”  Today: “Dad, you kn0w what my favorite class is?  French.  You know, I think I can already understand it.”  She gave a nice smile to Salimata, and wolfed down an entire plate of fried plantains (alloco).  Played itouch for an hour.  She even said hello to Herve, Halidou and Dounko while we had a meeting at the house.  Banana bread from Sam’s Bakery was a good ice breaker… nothing like serving a bunch of Burkinabe village guys banana bread… they were grabbing for more…. this stuff is good!  Then we walked back over to ISO for hiphop class.  Whining the entire way.  I don’t want to…. why do I have to…. what if i stop right here….  As we enter the school a gaggle four girls overheard, “where’s the hiphop class?”  Her step is no longer dragging.  Now it’s all: “I’m just going to watch.”  We get there.  Fifteen girls, three boys.  Three kids from her class.  The teacher- a young Burkinabe man with a shy smile, knows no English.  I tell him Sukie is going to watch.  “C’est bon.”  When they start up everyone gets in a circle holding hands…. he glances over at Sukie, holds out his hand…. “You, yes?”  What a great teacher… he instinctively knew just how to do it.   And boy can the guy dance.  He just starts teaching them steps to a little routine.  By the end of the hour they’ve all learned the steps, and Sukie very happy.  Ah, Ouaga!

I guess I’ll write about work over at the FAVL blog.

Dropped Sukie off at 7am at the International School. Everyone was very welcoming. Her class has 8 other kids. Four girls, four boys. She is the only American! Four of the kids are anglophone Africans, one boy from Holland, one girl from Poland, and two she isn’t sure. Teacher is from Canada. She says it was a good first day… the girls told her the boys were a little… you know… crazy. So that went pretty well. She came home and Salimata had made benga (rice and bean dish) and she liked it. For dinner spaghetti with vegetable sauce. She watched Nancy Drew again, and now is doing homework.

I had a good meeting at INSS with my colleagues Alain Sissao and Felix Compaore. The FAVL team working with me on the project to promote reading amongst youth arrived. We are going to meet and go over the program the next two days. I am looking forward to this project getting underway. It will be really interesting to see how things develop.

I’m back for four months.  I think this will be a good trip.  Saw Peter Hochet on the plane; he was returning from Guinea.  He and colleagues in Labo Citoyennetes are doing a big project on land tenure regimes in Guinea.  Airport was smooth, and my thirft store suitcases all made it, even the 1950s one, though the entire side fell off and everything was held in the bag by the liner only.  I did a count and we now have 14 large suitcases in the house in Ouaga.  A problem of always coming with two and leaving with one!  Have to sell some at the ISO garage sale.

Speaking of the International School of Ouagadougou, Sukie and I walked around about noon.  Nobody out.  Of course, it was 104 F.  Right now it is night time, and about 95 inside the house.  Funny though it is such a dry heat neither Sukie nor I are really feeling it.  It helped that after the ISO tour, we drove over to the Club Sonabel, by the barrage, and watched my colleague Alain Sissao and his daughters take their first swimming lesson.  Alain was pretty brave… imagine being fifty and dunking your head underwater for the first time…. scary.  The girls of course quickly blew past him, practically diving by the end of the hour.  Then we went and had ice cream at the Festival de Glace, the relatively new ice cream place.  Very air conditioned.  Quite nice.

Sukie and I drove home, and ate leftover couscous.  She says it is her favorite meal.  Salimata (the FAVL cook and in charge of the guesthouse) makes a mean vegetarian couscous.  Then she (and me a little) watched a Nancy Drew mystery (interestingly, they play her as slightly Asperger’s… or just old fashioned?  She can’t lie, and she can’t hear irony, and has a hard time with emotions.

Anyway, a good first day in Ouaga,