Mozambique: Corruption round-up – Hanlon

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Mozambique: Corruption round-up – Hanlon

8:40 CAT | 10 Mar 2020

Representative photo. [Source: Noticias]

What do you do with the $s? The Embraer bribe trial began last week in Maputo. Former Transport Minister Paulo Zucula, the former chair of Mozambique Airlines (LAM), Jose Viegas, and the alleged fixer, Mateus Zimba are charged with taking an $800,000 bribe from Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer in 2009 so that LAM would buy two Embraer aircraft. Embraer admitted a series of bribes including this one in a US court in 2016. The list showed that Mozambicans were cheapest to bribe – they received a smaller percentage of the deal price than any other country. The $800,000 was to paid to a Sao Tome account of Viegas, who then ordered payments. The list of payments was published by Carta de Mocambique (3 March):

https://www.cartamz.com/index.php/politica/item/4560-saiba-como-mateus-zimba-gastou-os-800-mil-usd-da-embraer

Of Zucula’s money, $275,000 was sent to NedBank in London for payment to Frelimo for Armando Guebuza’s election campaign and $150,000 was transferred to development finance agency GAPI to pay off a loan to Greenpoints (a Zucula company which had built a resort in Vilankulo).

Of Zimba’s money, $49,000 went to the late wife of Finance Minister Manuel Chang for Frelimo, a substantial amount went on property investment in Maputo and abroad, $9,000 was invested in a barber shop on Av Julius Nyerere, and $500 paid for a band at his wedding. But his investments were not always wise – the prosecution says he paid $140,000 for deposits on two new apartments in Maputo, but never completed the purchase, so the $140,000 was lost.

Drivers for both Zucula and Zimba were given cheques – in the drivers’ names – to cash and give the money to Zucula and Zimba, the prosecution says.

Maputo Murder investigation stopped. Before the election of Eneas Comiche, noted for his integrity, as mayor of Maputo in 2018, it is alleged that many outgoing officials sacked the municipal coffers. The Vereadora (local minister) of administration and finances, Celia Cumbe, would have known many of the details. On 5 March 2019 she was found dead and police concluded she had been murdered and an attempt had been made to make it look like suicide or an accident. On 9 December the Maputo Province prosecutor Eveline Gomane told Carta de Mocambique (10 Dec 2019) that no suspects had been identified, so the case was closed.

Police at Nacala airport were filmed stealing 200 metres of electrical cable, making the runway lights inoperable. The cameras were set up after earlier cable thefts. But Carta de Mocambique (14 Feb) reports that the cable thefts were actually to stop secret night flights, particularly by Russian Wagner mercenaries in Cabo Delgado. The police were told to steal the cable, but not told why.

MPs are getting two salaries according to a report by CIP (Centro de Integridade Publica, 3 March). By law a member of parliament cannot receive remuneration from the state or a state company. From 1 January MPs are paid by parliament, but some who had state jobs are still being paid in those posts.

Bank of Moçambique will end nepotism, bank governor Rogerio Zanamela told a staff meeting. A rule has already been imposed that relatives of directors cannot be hired. (Carta de Mocambique 17 Dec 2019)

By Joseph Hanlon

Source: News reports & clippings