The former Ivorian Minister of Waters and Forests, Alain Richard Donwahi is quoted in an alleged case of timber trafficking. A situation which means that, for several months, the ministry has been the subject of an audit for alleged timber trafficking. The case was revealed by Jeune Afrique, ten days ago. The one who headed the ministry for five years was not reappointed to the government during the last reshuffle in April 2022. But he might be chosen as the next president of the 15th United Nations (UN) Conference on Biodiversity (COP15) which opens next week in Abidjan. In the press, the former minister denies any link with an alleged timber trafficking network.
According to the correspondent of Radio France internationale (RFI) in Abidjan, Pierre Pinto, who cites a press release dated May 2, 2022 and very widely distributed in the Ivorian press, the former Minister of Water and Forests, Alain Richard Donwahi, denounced a “smear campaign”. “Allegations try to make believe that I would have some links with networks of smuggling of wood”, he writes. In the viewfinder of the former minister, an investigation by the magazine Jeune Afrique which made revelations regarding a network of traffickers of precious wood, with presumed ramifications within the organization chart of the ministry.
According to Jeune Afrique, reports RFI, the General State Inspectorate commissioned an audit in February 2022. An audit confirmed, Wednesday, May 4, 2022, by government spokesperson Amadou Coulibaly: “You will allow me to express my astonishment on the sudden resurgence of this issue. The audit of the Ministry of Water and Forests, as we all know, is an issue that is already being addressed, namely, through this audit of the General State Inspectorate. »
For the time being, wrote Pierre Pinto, Alain Richard Donwahi, who was not renewed during the last government reshuffle, is not directly worried, but some of his close collaborators have also been heard by the courts.
Since his departure from the government at the end of April, the name of Alain Richard Donwahi has been circulating as the possible choice of Cote d’Ivoire to be the next president of COP15 for two years. Wednesday, May 4, 2022, the government spokesperson did not confirm. “I have learned nothing regarding the appointment of Mr. Alain Richard Donwahi as President of COP15. So, for me, it remains a rumor, ”he told RFI. The same source specifies that Alain Richard Donwahi did not respond to his requests.
Moctar FICOU / VivAfrik
