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Françafrique: Is Jean-Marie Bockel another Jean-Pierre Cot?

The Origins of Françafrique

The late François-Xavier Verschave wrote on the website of

Survie (www.survie-france.org), the orgnisation he founded,
that at "the beginning of 1994 I coined the term
"Françafrique" to describe the tip of the iceberg that i s
Franco-African relations, and went on to develop this
concept in approximately twenty books and special reports.
Here, briefly, I shall explain what the term refers to: the
secret criminality in the upper echelons of French politics
and economy, where a kind of underground Republic i s
hidden from view."

Mr. Verschave continued that compelled by the forces and

events of the moment, France under Charles DeGaulle
offered "independence" to French African colonies i n
conformity with the new international legality put i n
motion after the reversal of the German colonial and
expansionist tendencies that had brought about World War
Two. He explained that the "unsullied tip of the iceberg"
represented a narrative of "France as the best friend of
Africa, development and democracy."

In the shadows, however, a parallel reality was being set-up.

Mr. Verschave explains that, "Jacques Foccart, 'the man i n
the shadows', was given the task of maintaining
dependence, using inevitably illegal, secret and shameful
methods. He selected heads of state who were "friends of
France" - through war (more than 100 000 civilians
massacred in Cameroon from 1956 on; the Madagascan
resistance was broken in 1947 by carnage of a similar Jean-Marie Bockel: France's Secretary of State for Cooperation and the
magnitude), assassination or electoral fraud. To these Francophonie
[African] guardians of the neo-colonial order, Paris offered a share of the income from raw materials and development aid.
Military bases, the CFA franc which could be exchanged in Switzerland, the secret services and the outwardly-innocent
businesses acting on their behalf (Elf and numerous supply or "security" companies) completed the system.

Verschave continues: "so began forty years of pillage, support for dictatorships, dirty tricks and secret wars - from Biafra to the
two Congos. Rwanda, the Comoros, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Chad, Togo and others will bear the scars for many
years to come.

Gorged, burnt-out dictators, up to their eyeballs in debt, could no longer promise development, and so they brandished their
final weapon, the ethnic scapegoat: "If I prolong my power, by using my clan and playing on ethnic divisions, it's only to stop
your enemies from the other ethnic group replacing me. Let's exclude them as a preventative measure." We know what happened
next, in many countries: a headlong flight into political criminality to consolidate economic criminality."

The Tenacity of Françafrique

Mr. Verschave claims that, "undermined in 1990 by the growth in democracy and "Sovereign National Conferences",
Françafrique very quickly came up with an arsenal of constitutional manipulation and ballot rigging which enabled it t o
transform the massive electoral rejection of dictatorships into approval. This double talk (French aid finances the elections;
French networks reverse the results) had a profoundly debilitating effect and resulted in the legitimisation of dictatorships in
Togo, Cameroon, Gabon, Chad, Guinea etc."

It is this system that in 1981, an idealist jurist named Jean-Pierre Cot who was put in charge of France's Ministry of
Cooperation (the former Ministry of Colonies) under the newly-elected François Mitterand, was determined to abolish.

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President Mitterand, was to many progressive francophone Africans a hope for a new relationship between France and their
former African colonies after years of various Gaullist regimes' support of the most eccentric dictators and their authoritarian
rule in French Africa. But no sooner had Mr. Cot started the process of reform did some "selected heads of state who were
'friends of France'" in Africa prevailed upon the socialist president to remove Mr. Cot. And with no reform, Françafrique carried
on.

Mr. Miterrand will leave power years later with his government under heavy clouds of accusations of having actively and
directly participated in the genocide in Rwanda.

Battling Françafrique
On January 15 th the French publication, L'Express under the byline of Vincent Hugeux, reported on the New Year's address that
Jean-Marie Bockel, the current Secretary of State in the French Ministry of Cooperation and the Francophonie, gave to his
department and the press.

In the address, Mr. Bockel spoke of his determination to create a change and a rupture with the practices of Françafrique. Mr.
Bockel went as far to declare that he will "sign the death certificate of Françafrique," citing other clichés, as L'Express put it,
such as "bad governance", "embezzlement of public funds" and "predation" under certain African regimes that is enabled b y
the practices of the Françafrique networks.

L'Express , understandably was very skeptical about the chances and ability of Mr. Bockel to "sign the death certificate of
Françafrique," questioning if he has the full support of the French presidency and speculating on the reaction of the Elysée
Palace, it's Cellule Africain (African Cell), and those "selected heads of state who [are] 'friends of France'" in Africa.

Françafrique: Not Going Down without a Fight

And swiftly the reaction came from some of the "selected heads of state who [are] 'friends of France'" in Africa. The French
publication, Le Monde , on January 20 th under the byline of Phillippe Bernard, reported that Mr. Bockel's assertion that certain
African heads of state were guilty of the misuse of public funds along with his expression of worry in a delay of the Sarkozy
government in bringing about a rupture with the habits of Françafrique, had elicited reaction from the heads of states of three
African countries: Cameroun, Congo and Gabon.

President Nicolas Sarkozy of France with almost a century of francophone Africa leadership in presidents Omar Bongo
Ondimba (40 years and counting: 1967 to date), Paul Biya (25 years and counting: 1982 to date) and Dennis Sassou
Nguesso (24 years and counting: 1997 - 1992 and 1997 to date)

According to Le Monde , "presidents Paul Biya (Cameroun), Denis Sassou N'Guesso (Congo) and Omar Bongo (Gabon) called
the Elysée to protest the comments" made by Mr. Bockel as reported in Le Monde of Wednesday January 16.

"The rupture [with Françafrique] is slow in coming", Le Monde had quoted Mr. Bockel, "there are too many areas to acquire
rents, too many intermediaries without a clear purpose, too many parallel networks to allow for a healthy partnership of equals
without a complex" between France and Africa.

According to Le Monde , the government of Omar Bongo Ondimba, in power for forty years, offered a public and vociferous
protest in a communiqué stating that president Omar Bongo, judges as "unacceptable," the comments of the French Secretary of
State of Cooperation and the Francophonie.

In the communiqué, the Gabonese government expressed its "surprise" at the "condescending clichés that make African states
appear as vulgar beggars soliciting endless charity from France" and warned that Gabon will to turn to "partners more
respecting of the dignity of its peoples and sovereignty." The communiqué was released to the press after a cabinet meeting on
Friday, January 18 presided by president Omar Bongo Ondimba.

African observers however, remain skeptical of the sincerity of this initiative by Mr. Bockel to upset the pleasures and
privileges that Françafrique had enabled over the years for the French political and economic elite and a few of their African
friends.

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Mouélé Kibaya, writing in the Belgium-based website, Camer.be, saw a simple change of strategy in the face of "mounting and
visible anti-french sentiments that is rapidly developing in French-speaking Africa where France supports dictators." This
skepticism is not unfounded given that Mr. Sarkozy' first stop in sub-saharan Africa took him to Gabon as one of the stops. He
has also in quick succession, open his palace to Biya and Sassou Nguesso. Kibaya also speculates that the anti-French
sentiment coupled with the African populations' move towards China and India as sources of trade and commerce, may be
another motivation for this French apparent desire for change in their six-decade old policy of supporting "selected heads of
state who [are] 'friends of France'" in Africa at the detriment of the people.

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