Ex-minister arrested over embezzlement

Former Minister of State for Communications Gabriel Koyambounou has been arrested over his alleged involvement in an embezzlement scandal, an official of the former ruling party Mouvement de liberation du peuple Centrafricain (MLPC) told IRIN on Monday. Koyambounou, who is the MLPC vice-chairman, was arrested on Thursday. He served as minister during the administration of President Ange-Felix Patasse, who was overthrown on 15 March. "He is being interrogated not as a MLPC official or a former minister of state but as a former inspector-general," Hugues Dobozendi, MLPC’s first vice-chairman, said. He added that two of Koyambounou’s former aides at the State Inspection Unit had allegedly misappropriated 126 million francs CFA (US $229,091) owed to the Customs Department by the Pasteur Institute. Dobozendi said he had visited Koyambounou in jail who said he had not been ill-treated. Koyambounou served as prime minister between 1995 and 1996, and as state inspector-general from 1996 until 2001. Before the coup, he was the minister of state for communications. After the coup by Francois Bozize, most ministers and other senior officials in Patasse's administration fled their homes and sought refuge in embassies. Koyambounou left the Nigerian embassy in June. The Bozize administration has accused the Patasse administration, which lasted 10 years, of mismanagement. When Bozize seized power, the government owed civil servants salary arrears of at least 30 months. Bozize has directed the Ministry of Justice to recover all embezzled funds, beginning with some $8.7 million that was donated by Japan in November 2000.