Mozambique: Corruption still prevalent, warns ombudsman
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Maputo rejects insinuations that it is violating UN sanctions against North Korea, and its government has responded to a CNN report that points to alleged irregularities in relations between the two countries.
A report by the US television channel CNN presents alleged evidence of a possible violation of the UN sanctions against North Korea by the Mozambican government. Mention is made of documents that would prove this, although without disclosing or quoting them.
On the other hand, the report shows images of two decaying boats operated by a North Korean crew and a house where North Koreans linked to a supposed front firm called Haeneumgang are said to have lived.
Are these indications strong enough for the story to be taken seriously?
“There is no real evidence presented in the piece, but rather a kind of suggestion to get the readers to build their own story about what lies behind it. I think this is regrettable, it is a disgrace [uma vergonha] for CNN,” Mozambican sociologist Elísio Macamo says.
CNN did not discover the wheel …
Mozambican governance expert Silvestre Baessa adopts a similar position. “Unless there is another, more complete document that has not been made available, I think that this piece presents no evidence from which we can conclude with certainty that there really are blatant violations, that the government is aware of this type of situation.”
Baessa says CNN made no great discovery, and stresses that “all the information [contained in the report] is out in the open and not camouflaged. The boats are there, those who live there know there is a North Korean crew and houses. There was nothing very deep here. These are not objects that we would have difficulty finding”.
Cooperation not transparent?
Apart from seemingly biased journalistic aspects, there are aspects of cooperation that are not so clear. For example, in 2017, the UN Security Council accused Mozambique and Angola of buying arms in North Korea, an accusation denied by the Mozambican Defence Minister, Atanasio Mtumuke.
Meanwhile, the Foreign Minister at the time, Oldemiro Balói, acknowledged that Mozambique had received military support, without however specifying what kind.
Has there been negligence on the part of the Mozambican government in its relations with Pyongyang, calling into question the implementation of UN sanctions? Silvestre Baessa speaks of a “multisectoral co-ordination problem” and says he prefers to speak of negligence, taking into account “the risk associated with violation of sanctions”.
“For a country like Mozambique, which is heavily dependent on the West, I think what we have gained from cooperating with North Korea is not enough for the government to deliberately make such a decision,” he said.
Government denies violating sanctions
Mozambique’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Maria Lucas, in an interview with Radio Mozambique, said on Monday (05.02) that “Mozambique is collaborating with the panel and is working on this issue”. The Mozambican government recently invited the UN experts to visit Mozambique so as to be able to witness first-hand the efforts the country is making to cooperate with the panel. The panel recently held a meeting and will publish a report of its last meeting, and has said it will visit Mozambique again this quarter.
Relations between Frelimo, which has governed Mozambique since independence in 1975, and North Korea date from the time of the national liberation struggle against Portuguese colonialism. According to sociologist Elísio Macamo, “it is as if the country is being condemned for having had the kind of ties it had with countries like North Korea [in the past]. Mozambique should enjoy the benefit of the doubt and be confronted with more substantial evidence”.
North Korea has been subject to United Nations economic sanctions since 2006 because of its nuclear and ballistic missile programme. The international community’s stance on sanctions has been stiffened by Pyongyang’s insistence on testing its weapons.
Also Read: WATCH: Government denies cooperation with North Korea – AIM report
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CNN has proven itself to be fake news and willing to be dishonest so i cant believe what they say, but then again the current Frelimonistas are even bigger liars… so its hard to tell who of the dishonest sides is less dishonest this time around