Use of official vehicle causes ructions in Mozambican municipality amid corruption allegations

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Use of official vehicle causes ructions in Mozambican municipality amid corruption allegations

7:46 CAT | 21 Aug 2017

On August 11, employees of the Provincial Anti-Corruption Office watched as a Malema municipal vehicle unloaded construction material at the private residence that Malema Mayor Angelo Fonseca is building in a prime area of the city of Nampula.

Anti-Corruption Office prosecutor Freddy Jamal says the authorities went to the scene after complaints from citizens. “The car was seized since its use constituted embezzlement,” Jamal told DW Africa.

Mosambik Kleintransporter Nampula — Vehicle allegedly used by the mayor for private purposes

According to Jamal, the mayor’s wife was at the residence when the vehicle was seized.

The Anti-Corruption Office immediately filed a lawsuit, which will go to preparatory instruction and should be referred to court for trial within ten days.
subtitle – Mayor denies allegations

Jamal notes that anti-corruption authorities have already accused the mayor of various crimes, including embezzlement, abuse of office and function and active and passive corruption. “This embezzlement by use was mentioned in the previous process too,” he said.

In a telephone interview with DW Africa, mayor Angelo Fonseca denied the accusations and refused to comment on the previous case. “I do not have a residence or work in Nampula, that’s all I can say. You can go to the Municipal Council of Nampula to see if I have any works,” Fonseca said.

Trial unlikely

The case comes about 14 months before the end of the mayor’s term. Fonseca could be tried for crimes of abuse of power, passive corruption and other crimes.

However, lawyer and analyst Arlindo Murririua does not believe this will happen, because the mayor is a member of Frelimo. “If [Mozambican] courts were functioning as they do in other countries, the case would probably be tried. Perhaps a motion of censure by the members of the Municipal Assembly, and he would be tried before the end of the mandate,” Murririua said.

But in this case, he predicts the courts will evade the issue until the end of the mayor’s term.

Source: Deutsche Welle