No Mention of Payment To Berenger In AfDB's St Louis Document

There is no mention of any payment to opposition leader Paul Berenger in the African Development letter.

This is what a source who saw a copy of the letter in question told WorldFuture today.

The source says Berenger’s name is mentioned in the letter but not as a recipient of bribes.

“His name is mentioned as a vociferous opponent against the project,” the source says.

Now, they are trying to link Berenger to Swaley Kasenally who was interrogated by anti-graft busters in Mauritius, says the source.

The former Minister of Energie, Swaley Kasenally, is close to Berenger. Kasenally is a member of the Movement Militant Mauricien headed by Berenger.

During the 2018 General Elections, Berenger presented Kasenally as the future President of Mauritius.

Nevertheless, the source says after the scandal became public, the ‘Kitchen’ decided to use the letter from the AfDB to try to implicate Berenger in the scandal.

There were discussions between the concerned parties to implicate Berenger to tarnish his image.

“The document says Berenger is a vociferous opponent to the project, that’s all,” says the source.

“He was asking too many questions being the opposition leader.

“But the actors in the scandal did think of approaching Berenger to offer him some money to silence him.”

However, they did not go forward with the idea, fearing Berenger’s reactions.

This is when they mooted the idea to implicate him as a recipient of corrupt money in a letter that is never made public.

The AfDB has also refused to make the letter public saying it is a private document to a head of government.

SCANDAL NOT OVER?

The players in the scandal created an ambiguity in implicating Berenger.

The ICAC is yet to wrap-up the inquiry on the St Louis scandal.

The former interim DG of the Central Electricity Board, Shamshir Mukoon, was also interrogated by the (ICAC).

The scandal forced the resignation of the number of the government of Pravind Jugnauth, Ivan Collendavelloo.

It is alleged he is implicated in the fraudulent practices denounced by the AfDB.

The scandal is about Rs 4.3 billion for the upgrading of St Louis.

The contract was allocated to Danish firm Burmeister & Wain Scandinavian Contractor or BWSC for the installation of four 15 MW turbines.