Parliamentary commission raporteur accuses Sofala governor of obstruction

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Parliamentary commission raporteur accuses Sofala governor of obstruction

12:18 CAT | 01 Aug 2017

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The rapporteur of the parliamentary Commission for Public Administration and Local Government, António Muchanga, has accused the governor of Sofala, Helena Taipo, of obstruction after she cancelled a meeting with the group of deputies.

“We cannot compromise the activities of a parliamentary commission on the whim of a governor,” Muchanga, a deputy for Renamo, the main opposition party, told Lusa.

According to Muchanga, Governor Taipo knew about the commission’s visit and, if unable to attend in person, she should have designated personnel from the provincial government to receive the deputies.

“We did not need her presence, but she could have indicated a group to receive our commission, as happened in other places we visited,” he said.

In the Sofala provincial government document sent to the parliamentary commission, Taipo’s office says the meeting was cancelled due to the governor’s absence.

“Pursuant to article 21 of Law 8/2003, of May 19, the sessions of the provincial government are convoked and directed by the provincial governor,” the document, to which the Portuguese news agency has access, reads.

Among the topics to be addressed were the whereabouts of the timber seized in Operation Tronco, the largest seizure of smuggled timber in Mozambique since independence.

Lusa tried without success to contact the Sofala provincial government spokesman

“The commission does not even have the resources to go back to the province,” Muchanga said.

In the course of its work, the Commission for Public Administration and Local Government has visited Tete, Zambézia and Sofala provinces, in the centre of the country, over a period of 21 days.

Source: Lusa