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Former councillor and public officials tried for corruption in Inhambane
11:39 CAT | 29 Jun 2017
DW (File photo) / Maxixe City Council
A former Maxixe councillor and civil servants are suspected of making large sums of money by manipulating the granting of tenders, with the Anti-Corruption Office saying there is enough material to mount a prosecution.
The case was already being investigated by the Anti-Corruption Office, but it has only now been passed to the Judicial Court. The provincial government says that there is sufficient material for trial, and is now awaiting court notification.
Accused are Jacinto Chaúque, former councillor for the Urbanisation Area of the Maxixe Municipal Council, and Rodolfo Tambajane, former head of the Executing and Acquisitions Management Unit (UGEA).
According to the indictments, the two awarded contracts to companies that submitted proposals with values well above the ceilings, disregarding criteria fixed by law.
They allegedly took the excess money, leaving only what was necessary to perform the services. In addition to overvaluing works, they demanded a commission from the contractors who were awarded the works.
The current head of the UGEA, Messias Domingos Cumbana will also be tried for corruption, according to spokesman of the Provincial Office of Combating Corruption in Inhambane, Sinai Lonzo.
“Messias Domingos Cumbana is guilty of abusing his office and function,” he says, “and prepared documents for contracting public works whose value was more than 10 percent of five million meticais.”
MDM denounces more alleged crimes
The Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM) denounced the corruption in public institutions. José Sinequinha, the head of the opposition party in the Maxixe Municipal Assembly, told DW that there were still many cases to be clarified.
The MDM also challenges the Anti-Corruption Office “to find out how the last two Toyota-branded luxury cars bought by the Maxixe City Council were purchased”. José Sinequinha says that “a public tender was opened by UGEA, which was won by Toyota of Mozambique, but the vehicles were bought in South Africa and brought to Maxixe by friends of Municipal Council officials”.
The governing Mozambican Liberation Front in Maxixe did not comment on the MDM’s allegations, but promised a statement in the next few days.
The Chief Judge of Maxixe Judicial Court, Alberto Menete, told DW Africa that he had been transferred to Maputo and therefore could not comment on the case, which is now in the hands of his replacement.
Source: Deutsche Welle
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