Mozambique: Nampula Council denies undue payments to Renamo

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Mozambique: Nampula Council denies undue payments to Renamo

8:20 CAT | 28 Aug 2020

File photo: Conselho Municipal de Nampula / Facebook page

The office of the mayor of the northern Mozambican city of Nampula, Paulo Vahanle, has denied claims that the municipal council made illicit payments to the Nampula provincial delegate of the main opposition n party, Renamo, Abiba Aba.

The claims, circulating in Nampula local media, were that the municipality paid Aba 113,000 meticais (about 1,590 US dollars, at current exchange rates) for a trip to Maputo (36,000 meticais) and to repair a vehicle supposedly belonging to her husband (90,000 meticais). The sums mentioned add up to 126,000, not 113,000, meticais.

The director of Vahanle’ office, Ossufo Alane, called a press conference on Tuesday to deny the allegations. According to a report in Thursday’s issue of the Maputo daily “Noticias”, he said that Aba had requested the 36,000 meticais for her trip to Maputo “as a citizen of Nampula”, and not as Renamo delegate.

“This money is to be repaid in two instalments during the 2020 financial year”, said Alane. “She wanted 40,000 meticais. It was not possible to provide this amount, but we granted her 36,000. At no time was this seen as paying the expenses of a member or supporter of Renamo”.

After Aba had made the request, Vahanle gave a favourable opinion, and then signed the cheque. Alane said that so far, Aba has repaid 20,000 meticais of the loan.

As for the much larger sum paid to repair the Ford Ranger vehicle belonging to Aba’s husband, Alane said the municipal transport and traffic department is investigating the matter.

“Noticias” says that documents it has seen prove that the true amount spent by the municipality on repairing the vehicle was 94,000 meticais, not 90,000.

Vahanle has been elected twice as mayor of Nampula on the Renamo ticket, once in a by-election in January 2018, caused by the murder of his predecessor Mahamudo Amurane, and then in the nationwide municipal elections in October of that year.

Source: AIM