General Edwin Donayre, who has been in the headlines regarding a corruption investigation into the misuse of gasoline allotments, announced Sunday in his native Ayacucho that he will be leaving his post as commander general of the Peruvian Army on December 5.
During the civic-military ceremony, the controversial and flamboyant general also blamed the press for creating the scandal, which has led him to resign and has dashed any hopes he had of becoming the next president of the joint chiefs of staff of the Armed Forces.
General Donayre refused to appear before the State Attorney’s Anti-Corruption Office, despite six different summons, to answer questions regarding an extraordinary request he made for 80,000 additional gallons of gasoline, when he was chief of the Southern Army Region based in Arequipa in 2006. Later, when he was chief of the Central Region, based in Ayacucho, he requested an extra allotment of 12,000 gallons of gasoline in one month –the request was denied as a result of the army investigation into the earlier request in Arequipa. A summary investigation by the Comptroller General’s Office led to the case being opened by the special State Attorney Office for corruption cases.
It has taken pleas, cajoling and public statements from retired military chiefs, the Minister of Defense and and cabinet chief Yehude Simon for the General to finally accept to answer the state attorney’s summons for a hearing, now set for November 25.
