CIE-Gagnoa: Agents at the heart of a financial scandal. Millions missing from company coffers.

"CIE" V. employees: A black hole of 212 million uncovered.

An inextricable imbroglio is making headlines in the capital of the Goh Region. At the heart of these murky dealings are Aké Albertine Dominique, a Cashier and mother of 4 children; Koré Mireille, a Sales agent, mother of 2 from Divo and Mr. Dah Mambo Fulgence, an Accountant at (CIE, Compagnie ivoirienne d'électricité). All Incarcerated at the Gagnoa central prison since January 22, 2019, although accountant Dah Mambo Fulgence managed to escape.

The public hearing on Tuesday, October 15, 2019, laid bare the charges against them. They are alleged to have siphoned the respective amounts of 76.23.516 FCFA for Aké Albertine and 136.153.410 FCFA for Koré Mireille from (CIE). In a mysterious turn of events reminiscent of a mafia, all witnesses in this case did not show up to court and could not be reached by phone.
"To add salt to injury, in a blatant disregard to the law Court, your counsels are a no show": said the president before adjourning the hearing for all parties involved to reconvene at a later date. The presiding Judge went on to layout possible sentences under articles 110, 420 and 410 in particular, of the penal code.

Article 410: whoever hijacks, dispels or destroys, to the detriment of the owner, possessor or holder of belongings, money, goods, notes, receipts or any other writings containing or operating obligation or discharge, which would have been given to him only as a lease , deposit, money order, pledge, loan for use or for salaried or self-employed work, to render them or to represent them, to make use of them or a particular job, is guilty of a breach of trust and should be punished with imprisonment of one to five years with a 300,000 to 3,000,000 FCFA fine.

Will (CIE) set a precedent in Ivory Coast against corrupt employees whose sole purpose in life consist of thievery to the detriment of honest citizens? Time will tell.

Akoto G (Ivory Coast Tribune).