Kerekou to fight corruption

Benin President Mathieu Kerekou promised again on Monday to prosecute fraud suspects in a renewed drive to stamp out corruption in the tiny West African country, news reports said. "My government is determined to assume its responsibility in bringing to justice all those identified with fraud or known for ignoble and illegal practices," AFP quoted him as saying. But an analyst in Benin told IRIN on Tuesday: "The public wants to believe in the president but is sceptical." He said Kerekou had received the support of former World Bank President Robert McNamara and the international watchdog, Transparency International, in ending corruption. Kerekou, whose term of office ends in two years, created an office to fight corruption known as La Cellule de moralisation de la vie publique (CMVP), when he returned to power in 1996. AFP reported that the state loses an estimated 60 million CFA francs (US $100,000) annually to fraud and that 90 percent of Beninese never pay taxes. The analyst said tax evasion mostly concerned businessmen who often bribed officials.