Presentation of the general lines of the anti-corruption strategy

The document General Lines of the Anti-corruption Strategy (2005-2009), a 21-page document approved by the Council of Ministers in the 24th session on the 6th of September 2005, was presented.

The document presents the main elements that rule the phenomenon of corruption in Mozambique.
In the opening event, Arnaldo Bimbe, governor of Niassa, said that corruption is a disgraceful reality and one cannot live with it, which makes it one of the great obstacles to be overtaken. Bimbe said that «we have to pinpoint the strangulation knots that prevent Niassa from progressing in the fight against corruption, the fundamental aspects that occur in this province».

For the main speaker in this event, Francisco Machava, «unfortunately, it is a given fact that corruption occurs in Mozambique as a disgraceful phenomenon».

He pointed the concrete examples of the drivers that put money together with their driver’s license when they are stopped by the police; the cases of fraud that include false purchases and purchase of receipts in shops; the embezzlement of funds, generally originated by the existence of two banks, one in Lichinga and one in Cuamba, forcing the district administrative officers to go to both towns to fetch the salaries and «how often have we heard an administrative officer say that the money bag was stolen at the boarding house or that some bandits appeared and forced him to give them all the money».

Extortion consists in some public workers who create dishonest ways to charge something from the users of the services. The most serious example happens in maternities: «Who does not know that the ladies must put 50 thousand meticais in the tip of their capulanas to be attended to at the maternity?».

Nepotism is also an act of corruption. Machava added as an example the problem of vacancies and raised the tribal factor as the one that mostly facilitates this phenomenon.

«Because I came from the south the idea is that everybody that comes from the south of the country is family and we make of that a way of being and living».

For Machava the people are the ones that pay the most for corruption acts because corruption is heavier and controls power. This idea was confirmed by a participant who stated that she thought government did not know what was happening to their people.

«I am happy to know that after all government knows what is happening to their people and they are looking for ways to avoid new corruption situations», said the representative of the Human Rights League in Niassa.

In the meeting several problems were raised concerning the occurrence of corruption acts both in the country and in Niassa and some cases in Public Works and Housing about construction contracts were pinpointed.

«Everybody in Niassa knows that to win a construction contract you need to pay something to the members of the decision committee», said Machava, and he presented the example of a citizen (contractor) who asked him to be his lawyer in a case where he felt ill-used as «he had given a tip to win a construction work and was never called».

A specific question concerning the Single Attendance Office (Balcão Único de Atendimento) was asked: whether this office contributes to reduce the excess of bureaucracy in administrative processes.

It was questioned whether Public Administration has or not mechanisms to prove various irregularities that the citizens denounce in various public sections, with a greater highlight to health (maternity and consultations) and education.

In Niassa it is proved that a small group of people in violation of state rules buy the state vehicles that are written off or scrapped. In Niassa it is also true that a vacancy is announced when in reality the vacancy is already filled.

One of the examples pointed out was RM-Niassa (public radio station) that started a tender to hire an accountant when the company already had someone working on that post.

Other examples were presented, even with the names of the people involved in the acts and showing that they are walking freely in town.

One of the most serious cases was the one of a man who raped a minor in the Chiuaula neighbourhood, paid a bail and now wanders around freely in town and «sometimes goes to the little girl’s house to offend her family by saying ‘I have already paid’», denounced the representative of the Human Rights League present in the meeting.

The examples of corruption in courts were various and a journalist who took part in the meeting said that the Head Judge of the Niassa Provincial Court had issued an arrest mandate for him with no justification.

The journalist stated publicly that until today he was looking for the judge to understand why he had had him arrested. He thinks it is because of the radio law programme produced by him.

This example contradicted the thesis that the information concerning the strategy to fight corruption and denounce corruption acts should be widely divulged in the media.

Other examples indicating that corruption is in fact a reality in Niassa were presented by the different participants in the meeting. There is the case of a citizen who saw both his arms cut in 2000 and the criminal is still “wandering around” in town.

There is another case of youngsters of doubtful behaviour who were incorporated in the Police of the Republic, in Community Police and in Municipal Police and the issue raised was: have these youngsters changed their behaviour or are they still committing illicit acts under coverage of the functions that they now perform?

Still other corruption acts and acts of excess of bureaucracy were randomly talked about, as is the case of the 90 million meticais that left the Municipal Council of the town of Lichinga without the knowledge of the Municipal Assembly to increase the salary of two senior workers of that office; the case of the Provincial Nucleus to Fight HIV/AIDS who publicly stated that seven million meticais will be returned because of lack of projects, while there are people in the province who get infected with every minute; the illicit charge of fees in Community Courts, that goes up to three million meticais, while in fact the law states that the fees for these services must be low, due to the nature of the court.

Much information was provided on this phenomenon that harms the fight to absolute poverty, but the participants in the meeting think that government feedback is very important to fight corruption.

In fact, one of the participants, of Swedish origin, quoted an anonymous author to say that stairs are cleaned from top to bottom and never the opposite, in a clear allusion to the fact that the phenomenon of corruption has a greater dimension.

The same citizen raised some issues, like the proclaimed declaration of goods of the President of the Republic that was not made public but restricted to Parliament.

According to him, the provincial Social and Economic Programme should be divulged in the media, amongst other things that would help fight corruption.

Another proposal was that investors should know a minimum of Mozambican legislation, as that will contribute to avoid dishonest workers to charge them with amounts that they are not supposed to charge.

Someone asked why government was willing to listen to the opinion of civil society on the issue of corruption when meanwhile many corruption acts are already of their knowledge and no punishment measure has been taken, mainly here in Niassa.

However, some defend that if government is interested in fighting this evil they should go for an organisational offensive. «I tell you, if government makes this offensive, which we can call organisational, they will find many obstacles in the directorates.

Ask a director to show the cases that entered his office, the issues that were decided and the ones still pending and why. I can guarantee you will see absurd situations and immediately fire the director», stated an economic agent.