Ivory Coast minister quits over 'missing' Trafigura money

Adama Bictogo, minister in charge of distributing compensation to victims of toxic waste dumping scheme, was named in police report

guardian.co.uk, Rupert Neate, Thursday 24 May 2012

Adama Bictogo (right) at a meeting in Burkina Faso this month, before
the Trafigura allegations emerged. Photograph: Ahmed Ouoba/AFP/
Getty Images

An Ivory Coast minister has resigned over allegations that he stole £700,000 from a compensation fund for the victims of toxic waste dumped by Trafigura.

Adama Bictogo, the minister in charge of dispensing the funds to victims, stood down after he was named in a police report into missing funds that was leaked to local media this week.

Trafigurawas found guilty in 2010 of exporting toxic waste from Amsterdam, which was later dumped in Ivory Coast's economic capital, Abidjan, in 2006. The company agreed to pay £28.7m to compensate about 30,000 victims.

The multinational oil trader denies that the waste could have caused the victims' illnesses, which have reportedly led to at least 17 deaths. The company, which made profits of $1.1bn (£700m) last year, also said it was not directly involved in the dumping and said it paid a local company to dispose of the waste legally.

Bictogo, Ivory Coast's minister for African integration, had been brought in by the previous government as facilitator of the process to distribute the funds to the victims.

A statement from Bictogo's office, seen by Reuters, said: "Following the most recent developments in the case of toxic waste dumping in Abidjan by Trafigura, Minister Adama Bictogo, who played a role in negotiating compensation for the victims, has asked to be heard by the state prosecutor."

It added that Bictogo had resigned "to ensure and guarantee a separation between the executive and judiciary powers".

Leigh Day, the law firm that represented the victims, said 6,000 of its clients are still awaiting compensation.