Maputo — The Maputo City Court will question businessman Nyimpine Chissano, the oldest son of President Joaquim Chissano, in connection with the murder of journalist Carlos Cardoso, "before Xmas", according to anonymous sources cited by Thursday's issue of the independent newsheet "Mediafax".
The court will also question Octavio Muthemba, a former industry minister, who was chairman of the board of the privatised Austral Bank as it slid towards ruin in the 1977-2001 period.
Chissano has already given evidence in the current trial of six people charged with the murder. Then he was a witness - but when he and Muthemba are questioned next week (presumably on Monday or Tuesday) they will be suspects.
The claim that Chissano and Muthemba were involved in ordering Cardoso's murder comes from loan shark Momade Assife Abdul Satar ("Nini"), one of the accused in the current trial.
Satar admits making payments to Anibal dos Santos Junior ("Anibalzinho"), the man who organised the death squad that killed Cardoso. However, he claims he did so at the request of Nyimpine Chissano, and did not realise that the money was payment for a contract killing.
Satar's story is that Chissano approached him for a loan of 1.2 billion meticais (50,000 US dollars), but stipulated that the money was to be paid to Anibalzinho. Chissano was to repay Satar through a series of postdated cheques which totalled 1.29 billion meticais (including interest).
Satar has given the court seven cheques bearing Chissano's signature which he claims were to cover the payments to Anibalzinho.
Satar's claims against Muthemba are far weaker. He said in court that his mention of Muthemba's name resulted merely from "conversations I heard in the prison".
Chissano has denied entering into any business deals with Satar. When he gave evidence he said that, although the cheques were indeed his, they had been given to pay a debt incurred, not with Satar, but with businesswoman Candida Cossa.
Candida Cossa's story is very different, and indicated a network of dealings between Satar, herself and Chissano's company, Expresso Tours.
"Mediafax" also notes that last weekend's meeting of the Central Committee of the ruling Frelimo Party paid precious little attention to the murder trial.
Although Mozambicans throughout the country have been following the live broadcasts of the trial on radio and television, it is not mentioned in the final statement from the Central Committee.
One prominent Central Committee member, former security minister Mariano Matsinhe, was brutally frank when "Mediafax" approached him. He said the meeting did not look in any depth at the murder trial, despite the fact that Nyimpine Chissano, the oldest son of President Joaquim Chissano, has been repeatedly mentioned in court, and was obliged to testify. "I should add that the name of President Chissano does not interest us so much because he is not our candidate in the next elections", said Matsinhe. "Right now we are concerned with the name of Armando Guebuza, who is our candidate".
