‘Hidden debts”: President says that “the State must not fail” – Mozambique

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‘Hidden debts”: President says that “the State must not fail” – Mozambique

2:45 CAT | 07 Jun 2019

Ematum boats dcked in Maputo. [File photo: Further Africa]

Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi said on Thursday that the State should not fail, commenting on the decision of the Constitutional Council to declare void the debts and guarantees in favour of the public company Ematum, currently in default in the market of capital.

The ruling was announced on Tuesday, four days after the government announced an agreement with the majority of the Mozambican state’s eurobond lenders, Mozam 2023, that resulted from the conversion of Ematum debt securities.

“The Government’s conviction has always been: it is a State that must not fail, it must exist. There are examples throughout the world of decisions made in the past that have to stand today or in the future. Our concern is to make Mozambique a sustainable and credible country,” he said.

Filipe Nyusi was speaking yesterday in Maputo on the sidelines of the Constitutional Council’s candidacy for his presidential candidacy for the ruling party, the Mozambican Liberation Front (Frelimo), for a second term.

According to Nyusi, the decision of the Constitutional Council shows that “there is separation of powers” in Mozambique.

“It is obvious that the exercise of democracy in Mozambique is clear. I am proud to be a Mozambican, to know that in Mozambique the laws are respected.”

“We, as a Government, will continue to follow the process and, perhaps, at the proper time, when we have the documentation up-to-date, we will say what is the next step,” he concluded.

The loans obtained by Ematum under the previous government, led by President Armando Guebuza, are part of the US$2.2 billion corruption case under investigation in the US and in Mozambique.

Source: Lusa