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Comment: Forensic audit? – By Joseph Hanlon
8:47 CAT | 15 Sep 2016
It is unclear how to interpret President Filipe Nyusi’s response to a question of a forensic audit of the secret debt at a press conference in Gaza Saturday (10 Sep). “There is no government official who said at any time that there would not be a forensic audit. What we have been saying is that processes are already underway” through the Public Prosecutors Office and parliament. (Radio Mocambique, 11 Sep) According to the O Pais website (11 Sep), Nyusi added that the government has never made a statement about a forensic audit, because it has never been asked.
The IMF and donors have called for an independent forensic audit of the more than $2 bn in secret loans. If done well, it would expose overpricing and poor contracts, and identify those who benefitted. IMF head Christine Lagarde has called the secret loans corrupt, which suggests the IMF expects the audit to detail that corruption. The loans and projects were negotiated by a small group around then President Armando Guebuza, and senior party people close to the former president want to block a forensic audit.
The careful double negative in President’s Nyusi’s statement suggests that a forensic audit has neither been accepted nor rejected, and he is putting it on the table in negotiations with both the IMF and inside Frelimo. Nyusi’s appointment of an IMF man as Bank of Mozambique governor suggests he is slowly gaining power against those allied to Guebuza, and this statement may be the next step. By putting stress on ongoing investigations by the Public Prosecutors Office and parliament, he may be pointing to another way forward. Could Frelimo allow enough scapegoats can be found locally and enough money to be returned to appease the IMF?
Media reports been quite different from each other. Full Portuguese quotes and links are in the pdf version of this newsletter.
By: Joseph Hanlon
Source: News reports & clippings
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