The Wonga Coup

by Adam Roberts

  London, December 2009

  Writing The Wonga Coup

  The first I heard of the detention in Zimbabwe of an American plane packed full of mercenaries was on Monday 8 March 2004. We foreign correspondents in Johannesburg had no idea if the story was true, and at first excited rumours suggested the hired guns had tried a coup in Zimbabwe itself. Gradually the evidence of a plot in Equatorial Guinea emerged as du Toit and the others were arrested in Malabo. Still, it was unclear whether this story should be treated as a joke or as something more serious. The putsch in Sao Tome a year earlier had soon blown over, but this one had an extra element: the involvement of a British aristocrat and ex-SAS officer, Simon Mann.

  In the months that followed, all sorts of confusing claims and counter-claims were published. There were early rumours of Mark Thatcher’s role. Many thought western intelligence agencies were behind the plot. And there was the lure of Africa’s oil to consider. I met Johann Smith a few days after the coup plot collapsed, and he pointed to unnamed oil companies that were eager to profit from Equatorial Guinea’s oil production. He outlined the nature of the regime in Malabo, but argued that Moto would have been no better. From there, following a path well beaten by other reporters, I drove seven hours through the fringes of the Kalahari desert to the dusty ex-military base of Pomfret to meet relatives of some of the men detained in Zimbabwe. I heard their bitterness towards Mann and the coup plot leaders. The former asbestos-mining town turned military base was a wretched place and I saw no reason why anyone should mourn its removal. But it was an intriguing spot, too. In the previous years I had travelled to Angola several times and here I found families speaking Portuguese, braiding their hair, eating food and listening to west African music as if this were a little bit of Angola picked up and dropped in South Africa.

  Thanks to Barnaby Phillips I crossed paths with Nigel Morgan at the Butcher Shop and Grill in Johannesburg, the plotters’ favourite restaurant. Though it is hard to understand how and why Morgan behaved the way he did towards his friends, he has been generous to a fault with me and proved hugely enjoyable company. Over the course of a year Morgan described – in varying detail, and occasionally with different interpretations – his version of what happened. He also introduced me to some characters involved in or connected to the plot. As important, he provided me with a thick file of documents, newspaper clippings and his own intelligence reports, which have proved invaluable.

  Late in 2004 I set off for Equatorial Guinea with a colleague from the Guardian. We intended to cover the trial of Nick du Toit and report on the expanding oil industry in the region. We flew to Douala, the foetid commercial port in Cameroon, where we expected to take a small plane to Malabo. But fate – or more accurately, furious Equatorial Guinean officials – intervened. We were hauled aside by an angry immigration man; scowling diplomats told us that British journalists were no longer welcome. It seemed that too many had written that Obiang likes eating human testicles. We were booted out and left to sweat for a week in Cameroon, within spitting distance of Malabo. Over the next year I repeatedly called ministers, ambassadors and close contacts of the Equatorial Guinea government in Malabo, London and Pretoria. I spent several hours in conversation with a hostile ambassador in London begging for a visa. But I was ultimately told by one diplomat, in most undiplomatic language, that ‘British journalists have fucked us over too many times’, so I would never be allowed into Malabo.

  After Malabo the hardest place to conduct interviews was Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital. In my day job as the Economist’s man in southern Africa I frequently travelled clandestinely to Harare and other parts of Zimbabwe, though British journalists have been denounced as imperial monsters and I have been personally accused of being a spy. But to my delight, early in 2005, Zimbabwean officials let me visit to report on the parliamentary elections. I took the chance to apply to see Simon Mann (he refused) in Chikurubi prison, conducted long interviews with his Zimbabwean lawyers and several others involved, and visited some of the places where Mann had been. Most notable, a senior member of Zimbabwe’s ruling party agreed to discuss the coup plot with me.

  Other research in South Africa proved far easier. The Steyl family – Crause and Niel, who were involved in the plot, as well as their brother Piet – were especially frank. South African prosecutors and defence lawyers, members of the intelligence fraternity, journalists who covered various aspects of the cases and many others were generous with their time and material. Johann Smith also submitted to at least half a dozen long interviews and provided thick folders of his intelligence reports and other documents. Several of those who were jailed and released gave me interviews, short or long, about their experiences before, during and after the plot. Hours spent lingering in and beside court rooms in Cape Town and Pretoria, long evenings teasing apart the story with friends in Johannesburg, and the useful testimonies given to me by mercenaries in Durban and elsewhere are all appreciated.

  In Paris Henry Page was kind enough to explain events from his perspective and to provide me with yet more documents and material relevant to the case. Another lawyer, Lucie Bourthoumieux, was similarly helpful. On Mann’s side, his London lawyer, Anthony Kerman, was forthright and opinionated.

  Others were notably helpful. Mark Thatcher agreed to be interviewed three times by me for the purposes of this book, once in Johannesburg and twice in London, and provided much illuminating material as well as the odd (jocular?) threat to rearrange my teeth or have me walking on stumps if I portrayed him in an unpleasant light. Greg Wales, a thirsty man, volunteered for two long meetings in two London wine bars where he was startlingly frank about his role. Wales sent me some documents he had written and admitted authorship of others. I also acquired a manuscript copy of a novel he had written about an ‘exciting coup attempt’ in an oil rich west African country. His fictional sex addict hero flits between luxurious hotels in Johannesburg, London, Washington and the sweaty capital of the target country, a place that sounds very much like Equatorial Guinea. Under the comical working title ‘Coups and Robbers’, an early version portrayed the Wonga Coup from his point of view. He described Moto and how ‘Simon’s job was to provide him with a good enough guard force to keep him alive on his return to his ravaged country’. It was later given a less jolly title – ‘Power and Terrain’ – and was packed with quotations from a Chinese philosopher suggesting it is always wise to ‘take a state intact’. I am grateful for his help.

  Wales was perhaps trying to imitate Frederick Forsyth. Forsyth also kindly granted me three interviews, by phone, when we discussed coup plots present and past. But several of those involved in – or thought to be connected to – the latter-day events turned down requests for meetings or interviews. Ely Calil, Severo Moto, Jeffrey Archer and David Tremain all failed to respond to requests for meetings or simply rebuffed them. In Madrid some representatives of the Spanish government were helpful, but many phone calls were not returned by those who might have cast a clearer light on that country’s role.

  Others – diplomats, oil experts, journalists, friends, Africa experts, academics, politicians and writers – have been generous with their time, advice and suggestions. Anthony Goldman in London was particularly kind with books, documents and discussion of events. The investigative journalist Paul Lashmar spent many long hours tracing phone calls between plotters, and kindly provided me with an invaluable summary.

  In addition to interviews, much of the information in this book is drawn from documents produced by the plotters, from intelligence reports and from material provided by fellow journalists. A list of some primary sources is set out below, along with a selected bibliography. There are several television productions and documentaries relating to this coup attempt, some of which are also listed below. Many publications followed the coup attempt far more closely than did the Economist, and I have also benefited greatly from the many newspaper articles – and thus thousands of hours of research by others – relating to this story.
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  In addition to everyone who gave interviews I would like to thank several people for their time, hospitality and help. My thanks are due first and foremost to Anne, my wife, who read chapters, put up with endless discussions and gave me advice. Many friends, colleagues and relatives have been extremely generous. There is little space to list them all here, but you know who you are. Clive Priddle and all at Public Affairs, and Daniel Crewe, Andrew Franklin and all at Profile Books have been a delight to work with. Will Lippincott, my agent in the United States, got the ball rolling in the first place and invested huge energy and enthusiasm in the project. Julian Alexander, my agent in Britain, was as helpful on this side of the Atlantic. Thanks, too, to Bill Emmott, John Micklethwait and several others at the Economist for their support. Phil Kenny did a great job with the maps. In addition, thanks to Jo Wright, Catherine Moulton and others at the BBC who recruited me, briefly, as a consultant. Both Simon Robinson and Heidi Holland in Johannesburg read large parts of the manuscript and gave helpful comments, while Heidi has been the most inspiring friend one could hope to have. Errors and misunderstandings, of course, are my responsibility alone.

  Select interviews

  In Britain: Lucie Bourthoumieux; Richard Dowden; Frederick Forsyth; Anthony Goldman; Koosum Kalyan; Anthony Kerman; Paul Lashmar; Augustin Nze Nfumu; Melanie Riley; Patrick Smith; Mungo Soggot; Greg Wales. In France: Amir Ben Yamid; Henry Page. In Spain: Antonio Sanchez-Benedito. In South Africa: Raymond Archer; Henri Boshoff; Duncan Clarke; Richard Cornwell; Avelino Dala; Mr dos Santos; Victor Dracula; Peter Duffy; Christina Fernando; Johann Ferreira; Jendayi Frazer; Ann Grant; Alwyn Griebnow; James Kershaw; Peter Leon; Angela MacIntyre; Greg Mills; Nigel Morgan; Bruce Morrison; Chris Munnion; Ivor Powell; Torie Pretorious; Martin Rupiya; Felicia Shapoda; Johann Smith; Crause Steyl; Niel Steyl; Piet Steyl; Cecilia Tchimuishi; Viviana Tchimuishi; Mark Thatcher; Neves Tomas; Piet van der Merwe; Margie Victor; Martin Weltz; Ron Wheeldon; Simon Witherspoon; Deon X; George X; ‘Mr Amstel’. In Zimbabwe: Efriam Masiwa; Cris Chinaka; Beloved Dhlakama; Jonathan Samukange; Paul Tembo; David Ashford; The owners of Wild Geese Lodge; ‘Maxwell’, manager of Cresta Lodge.

  Primary documents

  From the National Archives in London: diplomatic dispatches regarding Equatorial Guinea in 1972, 1973 and 1974; special report on activities of mercenaries 1973.

  Documents directly relating to the Wonga Coup in the author’s possession:

  ‘Assisted Regime Change’, July 2003;

  Agreement One and Agreement Two (Mann–Moto contracts), July 2003;

  Contract Nick du Toit–Congolese ‘PDD’ rebels, July 2003;

  Two investor agreements for Logo Logistics, November 2003;

  Triple Options–Panac–Equatorial Guinea government agreement/business proposal, November 2003;

  Two agendas for coup planning, November and December 2003;

  codeword documents for communication among plotters, December 2003;

  Logo Logistics–Triple Options finance agreement, December 2003;

  Omega–Triple Options agreement, December 2003;

  ‘Bight of Benin Company’, January 2004;

  YKA subcontractor agreement, January 2004;

  Logo–Panac subcontractor agreement, January 2004;

  Logo Logistics dollar bank account late 2003–early 2004;

  Joint Venture agreement Sonage–Triple Options Trading, January 2004;

  Zimbabwe Defence Industries quotation for arms and ammunition, February 2004;

  Dodson Aviation correspondence, February 2004;

  Logo–MTS subcontractor agreement, February 2004;

  handwritten Mann letter from prison, March 2004;

  handwritten Mann confession, draft and final, March 2004;

  power of attorney agreement, Mann–Griebnow, March 2004;

  assorted intelligence reports by Nigel Morgan, 2004;

  assorted intelligence reports by Johann Smith, 2000–2005;

  assorted charge sheets against Greg Wales, David Tremain, Simon Mann and others in South Africa;

  assorted plea bargains and summaries of agreed facts for Mark Thatcher, Crause Steyl and others;

  assorted witness testimony, agreement statements of fact and others used in Zimbabwe trial;

  assorted typed confessions of Mann, du Toit, Witherspoon, Carlse and others;

  undated documents: payroll for footsoldiers; du Toit budget documents; passport details of fifty-six footsoldiers; copies of Mann’s passport;

  ruling of Guernsey court, April 2005;

  copy of Foreign Military Assistance legislation, 1998;

  ‘Power and Terrain’, unpublished manuscript by Greg Wales; also ‘Coups and Robbers’ and the ‘LBW Coup’, both by Wales;

  unpublished manuscript of the Equatorial Guinea coup attempt, Piet Steyl, 2005.

  Selected Bibliography

  Amnesty International, assorted reports on Equatorial Guinea.

  Archer, Jeffrey A quiver full of arrows (Pan Books, 1980).

  Bayart, Jean-Francois and others, The Criminalization of the State in Africa; James Currey (Oxford University Press and Indiana University Press, 1999).

  Breytenbach, Jan, The Buffalo Soldiers, the story of South Africa’s 32 Battalion 1975–1993 (Galago, 2002)

  Burton, Sir Richard Francis, Wanderings in West Africa, from Liverpool to Fernando Po, 2 vols. (1862) (reissued by The Narrative Press, 2001).

  Cabell, Crai, Frederick Forsyth, A Matter of Protocol (Robson Books, 2001).

  Carney, Daniel, The Wild Geese (Corgi Books, 1977).

  Cilliers, Jakkie and others, Peace, Profit or Plunder, the privatisation of security in war-torn African Societies (Institute of Security Studies, 1999), the chapter by Khareen Pech.

  Collins, Robert O., African History (Random House, 1971).

  Cook, Robin, Chromosome 6 (Pan Books, 1997).

  Coote, Stephen, Drake, the Life and Legend of an Elizabethan Hero (Pocket Books, 2003).

  Crick, Michael, Jeffrey Archer, Stranger Than Fiction (Fourth Estate, 1999).

  Fegley, Randall, Equatorial Guinea: An African Tragedy (P. Lang, 1989).

  Ferguson, Niall, Empire, How Britain Made the Modern World (Penguin, 2003).

  Forsyth, Frederick, The Dogs of War (Viking Press, 1974).

  Forsyth, Frederick, The Making of an African Legend: The Biafra Story (Penguin, 1969).

  Frynas, Jedrzej George, ‘The Oil Boom in Equatorial Guinea’, African Affairs 103/413, (2004), pp. 527–46.

  Gary, Ian and Nikki Reisch, ‘Chad’s Oil: Miracle or Mirage? Following the Money in Africa’s Newest Petro-state’, Catholic Relief Services and Bank Information Centre (February 2005).

  Germani, Hans, White Soldiers in Black Africa (Nasionale Boekhandel Beperk, 1967).

  Greene, Graham, Journey Without Maps (Vintage Classics, 1936).

  Halloran, Paul and Mark Hollingsworth, Thatcher’s Fortunes. The Life and Times of Mark Thatcher (Mainstream Publishing, 2005).

  Harrison Church, R. J., West Africa, A Study of the Environment and Man’s Use of It (Longman’s Green and Co. 1957).

  Hoare, Mike, Congo Mercenary (Robert Hale, 1967).

  Hoare, Mike, The Seychelles Affair (Bantam Press, 1986).

  Hochschild, Adam, King Leopold’s Ghost (Macmillan,1999).

  Hooper, Jim, Bloodsong: First-Hand Accounts of a Modern Private Army in Action, Angola 1993–1995 (Collins, 2002).

  Human Rights Watch, ‘Some Transparency, No Accountability: The Use of Oil Revenue in Angola and Its Impact on Human Rights’, vol. 16, no. 1 (January 2004).

  Human Rights Watch on West African mercenaries between 1998 and 2005: hrw.org/reports/2005/westAfrica0405.

  International Bar Association, ‘Equatorial Guinea at the Crossroads’, www.ibanet.org (October 2003).

  Ives, Ryan A., ‘Diversifying the Oil Supply: Recommendations for Productive US Involvement in Equatorial Guinea’, International Affairs Review, vol. 11, no. 2 (summer/autumn 2002), pp. 54–71.

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bsp; Jeune Afrique Economie, ‘Guinee Equatoriale 1995’ (1995).

  Kingsley, Mary, Travels in West Africa (1897) Phoenix Press, (reissued by 1976).

  Klitgaard, Robert, Tropical Gangsters: One Man’s Experience with Development and Decadence in Deepest Africa (Basic Books, 1990).

  Liniger-Goumaz, Max, trans. John Wood, Small is Not Always Beautiful: The story of Equatorial Guinea (Rowman & Littlefield, 1989).

  Liniger-Goumaz, Max, Who’s Who de la dictature de Guinée Equatoriale, Les Nguemistes 1979–1993 (in French) (Les Editions du Temps, 1994).

  Liniger-Goumaz, Max, United States, France and Equatorial Guinea, the Dubious ‘Friendships’ (Les Editions du Temps, 1997).

  McGowan, Patrick, Journal of Modern African Studies, vol. 41, no. 3 (September 2003).

  McLynn, Frank, Hearts of Darkness: the European Exploration of Africa (Carroll and Graf, 1993).

  Meredith, Martin, The State of Africa: A History of the Fifty Years of Independence (Jonathan Ball, 2005).

  Mills, Greg and John Stremlau, The Privatisation of Security in Africa (South African Institute of International Affairs, 1999).