Ministry advisers not consulted over Embraer – AIM report

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Ministry advisers not consulted over Embraer – AIM report

10:28 CAT | 09 Mar 2020

Photo: Noticias

According to the public prosecutor, Mozambique’s former Transport Minister, Paulo Zucula, did not consult with any of his Ministry’s advisers before giving a favourable opinion for the purchase of two aircraft from the Brazilian manufacturer, Embraer, in 2008 – although such consultations were normal practice.

The Permanent Secretary in the Transport Ministry, Pedro Ingles, told the Maputo City Court on Thursday that the Ministry’s statutes envisage three advisers – a legal adviser, an economic adviser and an adviser for large projects.

Ingles was giving evidence in the trial of Zucula, the former chairperson of Mozambique Airlines (LAM), Jose Viegas, and the former Mozambique Representative of the South African hydrocarbon company Sasol, Mateus Zimba, who are accused of organising an 800,000 dollar bribe from Embraer.

Ingles said that, “in general, the Minister should consult his advisers, but, depending on the complexity or otherwise of the matter, he may decide without consultation”. As far as Ingles was aware, consultation was not obligatory.

After Zucula gave his approval to the purchase of the Embraer planes, the matter went to the Ministry of Finance, which would have to guarantee the purchase. Antonio Laisse, who was National Director of the Treasury at the time, told the court that Zucula’s favourable opinion was indispensable.

Without the favourable opinion from the Transport Ministry, the Finance Ministry would not have issued a guarantee. Adriano Ubisse, National Director of the Treasury from 2015 to the present agreed with Laisse – no favourable opinion from the Transport Minister would mean no guarantee.

The court also continued to trawl through Zimba’s financial records. Naite Chissano (son of former President Joaquim Chissano) said that in 2012, Zimba made a down payment of 1.6 million meticais (about 53,000 US dollars at the exchange rate of the time) to purchase an apartment in the Marisias Condominium in Maputo. Chissano was a manager of Tupanne, the company in charge of this construction.

“The apartment cost the equivalent of 300,000 dollars”, said Chissano. It covered around 100 square metres, including a garage and a swimming pool.

“He deposited a down payment to acquire the apartment, but did not manage to pay the remaining instalments”, he added. As a result Zimba lost the money he had paid.

This backed up the prosecution account of how Zimba spent the Embraer bribe. Embraer sent the 800,000 dollars to an account belonging to a shell company Zimba had set up called Xihivele, which was registered, not in Mozambique, but in the west African island state of Sao Tome and Principe.

Zmba then transferred this money partly to Zucula, who received 430,000 dollars, and partly to his own account in Mozambique. Zimba told the International Bank of Sao Tome that several of these transfers were for investment in real estate.

In addition to the money lost on the Marisias Condominium, Zimba made a down payment of 95,000 dollars for an apartment in the Gugui Palms condominium, also in Maputo. Again, he failed to pay further instalments and again he lost the money.

Source: AIM