beautiful women was legendary, and he married at least 19 of them from 13 different countries, who bore him 40 children! Most of the wives were a result of his official visits abroad, and they came to be known as “the German”, “the Belgian”, “the Vietnamese”, “the Lebanese”, “the French”, “the Angolan” and the “Gabonese”. Most famous of all was the blonde “Romanian” who Bokassa had seen in a Bucharest nightclub during a visit to his friend Nicolae Ceausescu. Her name was Gabriella Drimba and she immediately became a legend in Bangui, because of her allegedly active sex life that cost the lives of several men, when Bokassa discovered what was happening behind his back. Gabriella later gave birth to Bokassa’s daughter and then returned home to Romania. JB is planning to go back home to Central African Republic for the first time since the overthrow of his grandfather. “I have not felt ready to go before, I have been closer to Vietnam than to my home country,” he explains. “During many years, I have only spoken French and Vietnamese with my mother, never the local language in the Central African Republic, Sango.” There are still several of his family members living in the home country, the most prominent being Jean-Serge Bokassa who is a member of parliament in Bangui; and Catherine Denguiade, who was the “empress” during the coronation and has just recently returned to Geneva to her old home, “Villa Nasser”. The family in Central African Republic is trying to raise money so “Bokassa’s African Versailles” in Berengo can be rebuilt, but, for obvious reasons, the authorities in Bangui have shown no interest in financing the project. The rest of the family members are spread out in exile in Africa, Asia, Europe and the US, and they too have been hit by several tragic events associated with the past deeds of their grandfather and fathers. One of them, Bokassa’s son Charlemagne, lived for years in extreme poverty inside the Paris metro (underground train system), where in 2001 he was found dead, aged 31. The news of his death was too much for his mother, Marie-Joelle, who took her own life as a result, in her home in Libreville in Gabon. Two of Bokassa’s other sons – including his eldest – have been in jail in France, for fraud, drugs and theft. For many of them, the name Bokassa has really become a burden. g NA

Tanzania: British firm fined for dubious water deal

Tanzanians are celebrating a small but significant legal victory against a World Bank-backed water privatisation project that forced water prices to skyrocket beyond affordability, forcing many to needlessly go thirsty. Towera Malanda reports.

City Water Services, a subsidiary of the British-based water company Biwater, in January lost a legal case for breaching its contract to deliver water and sanitation services in Dar es Salaam, between 2003 and 2005. The company was made to award the Tanzanian government over £3m in damages and over £500,000 in legal costs. In 2003, trumpeted as a modern solution to water supply shortages, the Tanzanian government was happy to secure the services of Biwater to run its water system under a World Bank– inspired privatisation deal. The Bank had made the privatisation of Dar es Salaam Water and Sewage Authority (Dawasa) a condition for Tanzania receiving debt relief. It also stipulated that a $145m loan package for upgrading the city’s water infrastructure would be forthcoming only if a private company operated the water system. But two years after the deal was done and dusted and Biwater was firmly in charge, water supply and sewerage services in Dar es Salaam began to deteriorate to alarmingly low levels. Yet Biwater felt no remorse in saddling the Tanzanian people with the $145m debt, while investing only about $4.5 million mainly in standpipes and controversial water meters that forced locals to pay through the nose. In 2005, the Tanzanian government had had

enough. Not only did it terminate the contract, it kicked Biwater out of the country. According to the World Development Movement (WDM), which campaigns against the World Bank’s water privatisation schemes in Africa and against the use of UK government aid to fund such project, the legal outcome vindicates the Tanzanian government’s decision to terminate the contract when it felt cheated. Vicky Cann, policy officer at the WDM said: “The evidence clearly shows that water privatisation has been a disastrous policy for poor people around the world, but the World Bank insisted on imposing water privatisation in Tanzania in return for much needed debt relief.” She added: “Biwater now has a moral duty to ensure that, despite City Water Services being in liquidation, this money is paid promptly and in full so that the government of Tanzania can focus on making essential improvements to water and sanitation.” In a separate legal case following the collapse of this water privatisation project, Biwater has lodged a case at the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) against the Tanzanian government. The case is being held in secrecy at The Hague and is thought to involve a claim for approximately $20 million. The ruling is expected later in the year. g NA

February 2008 NEW AFRICAN n 33