Portugal confident that trust between Mozambique and donors will be restored

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Portugal confident that trust between Mozambique and donors will be restored

7:27 CAT | 15 Jun 2016

Lusa (File photo) / José Augusto Duarte, ambassador of Portugal to Mozambique

The Portuguese ambassador to Mozambique, José Augusto Duarte, said yesterday in Maputo that he was confident that trust between the international community and Mozambique, recently shaken by revelations of undisclosed debts, would be restored presently.

“I have the utmost confidence that Mozambique will be able to work constructively towards the restoration of confidence. Everything depends on the goodwill of the parties and their commitment to rebuilding that trust,” Duarte told reporters. The Portuguese ambassador chairs the G-14 group donors to the Mozambican state budget.

Speaking on the sidelines of the ortugal, Camões and Communities Day celebrations in Maputo yesterday, the diplomat, who will step down shortly, also urged that political disputes in Mozambique be resolved within the framework of the country’s existing institutions.

“It is a conflict that we condemn. My President (of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa) has condemned the use of violence to defend points of view, because political disputes have to be settled within the legal framework in force,” he said.

Duarte, who returns to Portugal to work as diplomatic adviser to the president, expressed confidence in the ability of Mozambicans to secure peace, pointing to the ability to overcome challenges the country has shown in the past.

Last week, the Mozambican government was in parliament to explain the debts of more than US$1 billion contracted by the previous executive between 2013 and 2014.

Speaking on that occasion, the Mozambican prime minister acknowledged the existence of US$1.4 billion (EUR 1.25 billion) debt kept off the public accounts with the justification of security to strategic infrastructure of the country, which led the IMF to suspend the second installment of a loan to Mozambique and the deployment of a mission to Maputo.

The group of 14 donors from the state budget also suspended its payments, a move accompanied by the United States, which announced that it would review its support and demanded, like the United Kingdom, an international forensic audit.

With the revelation of new loans, public debt of Mozambique now stands at US$11.66 billion dollars (10.1 billion euros), of which US$9,890 million (EUR 8.6 billion) is external debt.

Simultaneously, Mozambique is experiencing an escalation of clashes between the defence and security forces and the armed wing of Renamo, with mutual accusations of abductions and assassinations on both sides.

The main opposition party refuses to accept the results of the general elections in 2014, demanding to rule in the six provinces where claims victory in the poll.

The Mozambican government and Renamo resumed negotiations on the political and military crisis in Mozambique in late May, the main opposition party having abandoned a previous round of talks with the government in late 2015, citing a lack of progress.

Source: Lusa