Mozambique: 11% of funds donated to fight Covid in 2020 used improperly – government

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Mozambique: 11% of funds donated to fight Covid in 2020 used improperly – government

1:22 CAT | 03 May 2022

FILE - Ministry of Economy and Finance, Maputo., [File photo: O País]

Around 11 percent of donor money to Mozambique to face Covid-19 in 2020 was used improperly, the government itself acknowledges in a report in which it lists some steps taken to correct the situation.

At stake is the equivalent of about 30 million euros of the total 285 million euros in donations used by the Mozambican state in 2020.

“It was found that during the implementation of projects carried out by some of the beneficiary sectors, irregularities were recorded associated to contracting processes, deficiencies in the processes of accountability, irregular payment of per diems of officials and ineligible expenses,” reads the report available on the website of the finance ministry and consulted on Tuesday by Lusa.

Almost all of the amount in question relates to “payments that did not observe the legally established procurement procedures”, amounting to about 28 million euros for the rehabilitation and construction of toilets in schools and improving water supply systems.

A number (“unquantified”) of cases have already been resolved, the government says, thanks to procedures put in place after an audit by the Administrative Tribunal detected the irregularities.

The executive promises to sanction those who have not yet rectified the contracting processes.

In relation to other irregularities, the government says that they were resolved after documents justifying expenses that were missing were sent to the Administrative Tribunal.

In other situations a request was made for the return of undue per diems to public employees who received them, with a “fact-finding process to ascertain the responsibility of the authors of the infraction.

In the report, the government also promises to intensify supervision and training initiatives, along with procedures that “recommend the establishment of the responsibilities of offenders”.

The donor fund for Mozambique’s response plan to Covid-19 received contributions from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), African Development Bank (AfDB), Islamic Development Bank, World Bank, European Union (EU), United States and the Global Fund.

The report on the use of funds comes at a time when the IMF will resume financial assistance to the country, after in 2016 it cut it due to the state’s hidden debt corruption scandal, still on trial in Maputo and with sentencing scheduled for August.

Mozambique gained one point in the Corruption Perception Index 2021, released earlier this year by Transparency International, which allowed it to rise from 149th to 147th position.

Despite the improvement in relation to the 2020 edition, the country is in the group of those that have fallen most in sub-Saharan Africa – alongside the Republic of Congo, Malawi, Madagascar, Liberia and Zambia – by accumulating six points lost since 2012, notes the organisation.

Source: Lusa