Question 29664 — foreign policy

Summary

Mrs. Frédérique Dumas draws the attention of the Minister of the Armed Forces concerning the consequences of the serious irregularities which occurred in the use of funds from the Nigerien Ministry of Defense. The field of honor does not exist, the French soldiers know it and their families too. In Ménaka, Mali, when a young soldier pays tribute to a fellow legionnaire fallen in combat, he wants to believe that the cause is just. That death is not not the simple consequence of an assumed risk. The anger of the military but also of civil society therefore invites us to question ourselves in the name of the republican fraternity. The very one that reminds us that elected officials and ministers alike have a duty of transparency to respect. The prosecutor of the Republic of Niger in Niamey reported 177 files “of which the conditions of award, execution and payment of some of them are likely to be criminalized” and opened an investigation. This would involve embezzlement of funds from the defense budget which occurred between 2016 and 2019. The sums incurred “for payments for services and deliveries not carried out or partially carried out and for over-invoicing” represent several hundred million euros. The Nigerien arms dealer is known to the French police services and his name emerges in the investigations concerning Alexandre Djouhri and Alexandre Benalla. However, this arms dealer turns out to be one of the main beneficiaries of the Nigerien defense budget. Furthermore, a partner in the company Image 7, a very influential French communications agency, has been present in the Nigerien government since 2018 as deputy chief of staff of President Mahamadou Issoufou in the same capacity as his son Assan Issoufou. So, she asks him: when did the General Directorate of External Security or the Directorate of Defense Intelligence and Security inform her of these irregularities? When did the Nigerien government purchase two Russian helicopters at grossly overpriced prices? Indeed, it is in this context that France lost two Tiger and Cougar helicopters in circumstances not elucidated in Mali. The black boxes of these devices were found the same day; does she plan to report on this incident? What is his position as Minister of the Armed Forces, responsible for the Barkhane force, with regard to the serious irregularities identified by the Prosecutor of the Republic of Niger in the use of the budget of the Nigerien Ministry of Defense? Indeed, the latter cause significant harm in firstly to the Nigeriens but also to France, to the French army and to the French who are making considerable efforts to this “war”, which the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, General François Lecointre has indicated will last for years. She asks him to please give her answers on this subject.

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