Five million meticais fraud at Lichinga Municipal Council

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Five million meticais fraud at Lichinga Municipal Council

10:55 CAT | 03 Aug 2017

DW / Niassa Province Administrative Court speaks of possible illegalities in the process

The acquisition of three vehicles has brought the Muncipality damages worth five million meticais (close to EUR 70,000) the mayor of Lichinga in northern Mozambique has said. The acquisition may have not been conducted in complete compliance with the law,

In 2016, the Lichinga Municipality launched a public tender for the acquisition of two vehicles for the collection of garbage and another for the morgue of the provincial hospital of Lichinga. Linex, a private service provider, pledged to provide all three vehicles, but has not so far done so, according to mayor Saíde Amido.

Amido says he is “very angry with the company”, and that the vehicles cost the municipality five million meticais (almost EUR 70,000).

“The company deceived the Municipal Council, citing the economic situation affecting Mozambique and the rest of the world,” he says.

linex.lichinga.dw

“At the time, we requested the vehicles be delivered in a phased manner. What was important was that they delivered the vehicles in good condition and that they would present the invoices,” Amido explained.

He now says that he has been unable to contact the company; Linex has closed its doors and the owner whereabouts are unknown. DW Africa also failed to locate the company’s owner.

Municipality procedures

Luciano Silale, a tribunal member at Niassa Province Administrative Court, says the damage was even greater than that announced because the municipality did not follow legal procedures. Silale says the city council should not have paid all three vehicles in full before they were delivered.

“When public entities make payments or acquisitions, there are procedures to follow, and in this context, I cannot think of any time when the law provides for payment before the products are received,” Silale explains. “If there was a 100 percent payment up front and we do not have the product, there were illegalities.”

In an interview with DW Africa, the president of Lichinga Municipal Council admits that his executive did not follow all the procedures laid down for the purchase of goods, but says that he will cooperate with the judicial authorities and provide the “necessary clarifications” to try to recover the lost millions.

“The municipality had to solve residents’ problems, but, in this case, it went ahead with eyes closed, even knowing the risks it was running,” Amido said.

Source: Deutsche Welle