Among the passengers on a flight from Paris which landed at Ivato airport yesterday was the former governor of the province of Toliara, and former Minister of Civil Service, Jean de Dieu Maharante.
A return from exile? The question arises. A flight chartered by Air Madagascar or Madagascar Airlines, it depends, which landed yesterday morning at Ivato International Airport, from Paris. One of the passengers on board caught the eye and led some to dip into their memory and general culture on the Malagasy political scene.
This is Jean De Dieu Maharante, former governor of the province of Toliara, and more recently, former Minister of Public Service, and then former Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, during the Rajaonarimampianina administration. Although he kept his Panama hat screwed on his head throughout the trip, this political personality did not go unnoticed. It is all the more a small event since he has disappeared from the radar since he left the government in 2018. An exit which was made under the din of a financial scandal.
Jean de Dieu Maharante was splashed with a suspicion of financial embezzlement of around five billion ariary. A fiddling with public funds through the Regulatory Authority for Communication Technologies (ARTEC).
Back in Paris
A financial scandal which also did not spare the former managing director appointed by former minister Maharante. It is on this subject, precisely, that the former minister spoke publicly. He did so on his Facebook page, claiming to be “amazed”.
The former minister defended himself by claiming to have been the victim of “signature usurpation”. He maintained that he had never seen the document concerning the market leading to the release of the five billion ariary which would have been the subject of embezzlement. The argument he raised to solidify his defense of usurpation of signature is the ease of the procedure for the release of funds for the development of information and communication technologies (FDTIC), within of ARTEC.
All it would take is “the signature of the minister and the director general of ARTEC” to unblock the FDTIC, which supported Jean De Dieu Maharante at the time. Saying he was shocked to have been abused, the former minister, in this publication on Facebook, indicated that he withdrew to “reflect”, with one of his children in Paris. Since then, no news from the former member of the government apart from a new financial scandal still inherent in his few months at the head of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications.
This second case on a suspicion of embezzlement of public funds concerns 700 million ariary and was brought to light by the General State Inspectorate. After more than three years of “retreat”, from the political scene following financial scandals, the return to the fold of Jean De Dieu Maharante then intrigues. Especially since the timing comes at the start of political turmoil in view of the presidential election. The former minister was, however, able to return to the country without concern yesterday. He was even welcomed by a protocol service.
