#Gabon: Richard Attias is lying to his guests at the New York Forum Africa

Richard Attias is lying to his guests at the New York Forum Africa

By Marcel Djabioh. Translated from french. Libreville, May 19, 2013.

In complicity of looting the treasury of Gabon with Ali Bongo, Richard Attias, the main promoter of the New York Forum Africa (NYFA), told the press Friday, May 10 that the second edition of the forum is funded by Gabon taxpayers, and its foundation. It will cost in the words of this fox, about four million (4,000,000) euros, or about two billion six hundred twenty eight million (2,628,000,000) CFA francs or 5.1 millions USD. The question that journalists have forgotten to ask is that how much its foundation is spending for this forum. This would have helped to see more clearly what is going on here.

If the Gabonese government was to finance such an event, this means it made sure to include in the Finance Act, a budget line for this expense. An examination of the explanatory appendix of the Finance Act reveals that it is expected that Gabon will be financing the organization of a South-South Economic Forum (Emerging countries) in Gabon, for a sum of seventy million (70,000,000) FCFA or 137 000 USD.

In other words, if the participation of the Gabonese government for the organization of this event is to be 7 million CFA Francs, this suggests that the difference would be covered by the participation of the foundation of our beloved philantropist, Richard Attias. This should be the equivalent of 2.6 billion FCFA - 70 million FCFA = 2.56 billion CFA francs. This means that for the 4 million euros (5 million USD) needed to fund the NYFA, the foundation of Mr Attias is financing up to 3.9 million euros (4.9 million USD), about 98% of all expenses, while the Gabonese government would pay for the rest.

So, is someone trying to make us believe that the Moroccan businessman Richard Attias, founder of "Richard Attias & Associates", a company based in New York and specialized in communication influence, co-organizer with Ali Bongo Ondimba, of the New York Forum Africa, husband of Cecilia Ciganer Albéniz, the ex-wife of Nicolas Sarkozy (ex-president of France), would totally act as philantropist, not a businessman, sickened by the poverty and misery suffered by people of Gabon, to the point of putting his hand in his pocket to get them out such misery, in a completely disinterested manner? Does not he deserve a Nobel Prize for his humanism?

And his Majesty, «riding the mechanical» in front of the cameras and microphones wants all guests and people of Gabon to swallow such a big chunk. He is inviting his guests to come spend a few days under the equatorial sun of Gabon, at Gabon taxpayers’ expense, and he used them as collateral in its business. Who outside accomplices and naive can believe that this forum is a gift from our friend Richard to people of Gabon, for their beautiful eyes?

One thing is certain. To finance this operation of communication for the political benefit of Ali Bongo, and put all guests at ease, Gabonese authorities had budgted only seventy million CFA francs or 137 000 USD, and will now be obliged, in violation of legal budget management procedures, to make diversion of budget lines (fancy way of saying stealing), as was the case in 2012 with the budget of the National Agency for Major Works (ANGT).

Well, while we're at it, does Mr Ali Bongo think it is nice to organize two editions in a row, and forget to invite his good friend Nicolas Sarkozy at this bamboula-like meeting, if only as a sign of recognition?