Senegal: President Wade defends ‘farewell gift’

Senegal’s president has described as ‘nonsense’ any suggestion that his gift to a departing IMF official early in September was bribery. The president said this in a press conference earlier on Tuesday, which was followed by an official statement from the office of the president, on the same day, confirming that Wade had in fact hosted a dinner on behalf of the departing IMF official, Alex Segura, who was set to leave the country hours later, at the end of a three year tour of duty. Mr Wade’s government had earlier on dismissed reports that his government had given money to the official. However, an IMF report released Monday, 26 October, which acknowledged that Mr Alex Segura had indeed received a huge sum of money from the president, about $200,000 (in US Dollars and in Euros) , which they had had to return, prompted the president to clear the air. In the statement, the government described the incident as a mistake on the part of a top presidential aide who had erroneously sent the departing official off with nearly $200,000 in cash as a ‘goodbye gift’. ‘‘A top aide to the president asked if he should give something to Segura as is custom,’’ the statement said, ‘‘the president said yes without specifying the sum, as that was a common practice.’’ ‘‘It doesn’t make sense to talk about corruption of someone who is leaving permanently without the slightest chance of meeting each other again one day,” the statement went on to say. But Senegalese are not taking the discovery slightly. President Abdoulaye WadePresident Abdoulaye Wade’s admission has prompted the opposition here to call for an investigation. They say it is unacceptable for an official of an institutional like the IMF, with a modest salary, to be given such a huge sum of money at the expense of the largely poor Senegalese people. President Wade has been under intense pressure lately on allegations of corruptions. He recently announced his intention to run for president for another seven year term, a decision that has attracted wide spread condemnation.