Court of Libreville: Millions of francs disappear without trace

The criminal sessions of the Gabonese courts of appeal began all over the territory, except in the capital Libreville. The court of appeal of Libreville postponed its return scheduled for January 29, for funding reasons.

In a note posted on the bulletin board of the Libreville courthouse, the secretariat of the public prosecutor’s office indicates that “the hearing of the draw of the first criminal session of the judicial year” is sent back sine die. No reason for this return was provided in the note, but according to the Gabonese media, citing concordant sources preferring to remain anonymous, the court of appeal Libreville has nothing in the fund. The funds allocated to the court for the opening of the criminal sessions have disappeared without leaving any trace.

In fact, at the beginning of the year, the Gabonese State, through the Ministry of Justice, grants subsidies for the conduct of criminal sessions in the Courts of Appeal. According to the same media sources, the funds allocated to the Libreville Court of Appeal amount to 50 million CFA francs. The question that comes up in all thoughts is: “Where did the funds go?”. A question that even the new attorney general at the Court of Appeal, Marie-Blanche Mbambiri, asks herself because she does not have the answer herself.

Citing the daily Moutouki, the news site GMT (Gabon media time) indicates that during the transfer of service between his predecessor Martin Obandja Owoula, and her, the incoming Prosecutor General “would have perceived everything during the transfer of service except the 50 million oriented to the organization of this criminal session”.

The confreres of GMT also indicate that their source reported that “the former attorney general at the Court of Appeal Libreville would have given these funds to Paulette Ayo Mba, first president of the Court of Appeal.”

In any case, the impression that this case gives to everyone and even to the body of magistrates who according to the media, does not understand the “guilty silence” of the Minister of Justice Mboumbou Miyakou who would be well informed of what is happening at the court of appeal of Libreville. While waiting for the clarification of this rather shady affair, the prisoners and people waiting for judgment languish in prison immersed in the vault of uncertainty.