"We have a right to know that the institutions of state power are not in the hands of bandits !", declared prominent Mozambican economist Roberto Tibana on Wednesday, at a ceremony marking the third anniversary of the murder of Antonio Siba-Siba Macuacua, who was interim chairman of the crisis-ridden Austral Bank at the time of the assassination.
Privatised in 1997, the Austral Bank came close to collapse less than four years later, thanks to the reckless lending policy followed by the Mozambican/Malaysian consortium that was the majority shareholder.
Unwilling to recapitalise the bank, the private shareholders simply returned their shares to the Mozambican state in April 2001. The Bank of Mozambique stepped in and appointed Siba-Siba, the head of its banking supervision department, as chairman of an interim Austral board, with the task of ascertaining the true financial state of the bank, and preparing it for a fresh privatisation.
Siba-Siba set about a vigorous loan recovery programme, and even published the names of over 1,200 of Austral's debtors in the country's main daily paper "Noticias".
He also cancelled contracts he regarded as irrelevant to the bank's interests - including the contract of Nyimpine Chissano, oldest son of President Joaquim Chissano. Despite his youth and lack of banking experience, Nyimpine had been appointed an advisor to the bank on a salary of 3,000 US dollars a month.
On 11 August 2001, unknown assailants entered Siba-Siba's office on the top floor of the bank's headquarters, murdered him and threw the body down the stairwell.
In the following three years, the police have said virtually nothing about the case, other than bland assurances that investigations are continuing. In his latest report to the Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, in March, Attorney-General Joaquim Madeira did not even mention the Siba- Siba case. Under questioning from deputies he did reveal that over 50 people have been questioned - but he did not say who they were, or whether they included any of the Austral debtors.
On Wednesday about 150 people gathered outside the Austral headquarters to pay tribute to Siba-Siba. Banners tied to the trees in front of the building declared "We shall remember you, Siba-Siba", "We demand justice", and "We don't want to live in fear".
Siba-Siba's widow, Aquina Manjate, accompanied by her children, Jessica and Walter, and by Nina Berg, widow of murdered journalist Carlos Cardoso, laid a wreath beside a new plaque to Siba-Siba inside the bank. The plaque described Siba-Siba as "a good man, a man of integrity, an honest citizen who brought honour to our profession".
Addressing the crowd, Tibana said Siba-Siba "was a victim of those opposed to integrity in this country". He called on the institutions of law and order to clear up the crime, and identify the killers. Tibana thought the murder a test of the country's institutions "to see whether they are prepared to confront organised crime".
He was angered by an interview given by the joint team from the Public Prosecutor's Office and the Criminal Investigation Police (PIC) in charge of the Siba-Siba case, which appeared on the front page of Wednesday's issue of the Maputo daily "Noticias".
The investigators, none of whose names were given, admitted they still had no clues as to the identity of the murderers, and even called the assassination "a perfect crime".
"The idea that this is a perfect crime, a crime that cannot be cleared up, is completely wrong", exclaimed Tibana. "It might take years, or decades, but this murder must be solved".
Was the interview given to "Noticias" an admission of incompetence - "or is it just a way of shelving the case ?", Tibana asked.
"The bodies in charge of justice and law and order have a duty to tell us what they are doing to solve this crime, rather than telling us it's impossible", he added. "We have the right to justice, to security, and to the knowledge that the public institutions of state power are not in the hands of bandits".
"So we shall continue to ask - who killed Siba-Siba and why?", insisted Tibana. "And they must be punished, regardless of who they may be".
Afonso Dhlakama, leader of the country's main opposition party, the former rebel movement Renamo, attended the ceremony, at the head of a high-ranking Renamo delegation, and paid homage to Siba-Siba.
In shocking contrast there was no sign of anyone from the government or from the leadership of the ruling Frelimo Party.
Nor did the governor of the Bank of Mozambique, Adriano Maleiane, attend or send a message - even though Siba-Siba was an employee of the Bank of Mozambique, and it was the Bank that gave Siba- Siba the mission that led to his death.
Fonte: AIM
