Nyusi calls for vigorous fight against corruption

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Nyusi calls for vigorous fight against corruption

7:21 CAT | 04 Jun 2019

Nyusi warned against the tendency to distinguish between different types of corruption depending on how much money is involved. “There’s no such thing as grand corruption or petty corruption”, he said. [Photo: Folha de Maputo]

Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi on Monday called for a vigorous struggle against all forms of corruption.

Speaking at a rally in the town of Mapai, on the first day of a working visit to the southern province o Gaza, Nyusi called for the involvement of all segments of Mozambican society in the fight against corruption.

“We shall wage a tough battle against corruption, because it makes development difficult”, said the President. He warned against the tendency to distinguish between different types of corruption depending on how much money is involved. “There’s no such thing as grand corruption or petty corruption”, he said.

In Gaza, several individuals accused of corruption have recently been detained. “We have the names of nurses and doctors, even some foreigners, who make illicit charges when they are attending to patients”, said Nyusi.

Some staff in the immigration services in Gaza had been detained in connection with corruption and the forging of documents. Nyusi added there are also policemen who go out onto the roads with the sole purpose of squeezing money out of motorists.

The President urged members of the public to denounce any signs of corrupt activities. Corruption, he added, occurs in many sectors of activity, and joint efforts are needed to fight against it.

Nyusi said his two day visit to Gaza is intended to assess the degree of implementation of the promises made in his election manifesto of 2014, because this year is the last in the five year cycle of governance that began with his election victory.

“We are closing this cycle of governance, and we want to know whether what we promised was done and how it was done”, he stressed.

He recalled that his election manifesto had rested on pillars such as the consolidation of peace, national unity and democracy, the development of human capital, the construction of infrastructures, and the sustainable management of natural resources.

Nyusi said his governance since 2015 has been marked by the construction and equipping of schools and health units, the opening of more sources of clean water, the building or repair of roads and bridges, and increased levels of production and productivity.

He claimed that his government’s “economic diplomacy” had made it possible to restore the trust in Mozambique of investors and of the international community in general.

These achievements, he added, were made despite adversities, such as natural disasters, and lack of funds after the country’s international partners cut off support for the state budget (following the revelations in 2016 of massive undisclosed debts, due to the previous government guaranteeing bank loans to three fraudulent, security-related companies).

Nyusi also told the rally that work on paving the Caniçado-Chicualacuala road, in the north of the province, interrupted in 2011 for lack of funds, will resume shortly.

Some money was now available, and a tender had been launched to conclude the job. Nyusi said the bids will be opened on 7 August, “and then we shall see the work go ahead”.

In their message to the rally, representatives of the Mapai population had asked for the paving to be concluded, since this road is vital to the economy of northern Gaza, and also provides a link with Zimbabwe. The road is 310 kilometres long, and 190 kilometres have still to be paved.

Mapai residents also called for work to begin on the long awaited Mapai dam, which is intended to control the waters of the Limpopo basin. Nyusi told the rally that a basic study has already been done, and the tender for a detailed study was launched on 17 April. The results of the tender should be known on 5 June.

“As a government, we have the same sensitivity as you regarded the need to build the Mapai dam”, sad Nyusi. “As soon as the detailed studies are complete, we shall mobilise the finance”.

Source: AIM