Maputo — The Maputo City Court on Wednesday sentenced Ndambi Guebuza, the oldest son of former Mozambican President Armando Guebuza, to 12 years imprisonment for his role in the scandal of Mozambique's "hidden debts".
Judge Efigenio Baptista said it had been proved that Ndambi had influenced his father into accepting the coastal protection scheme proposed by the Abu Dhabi based company, Privinvest. This led to the formation of three fraudulent, security linked companies, Proindicus, Ematum (Mozambique Tuna Company) and MAM (Mozambique Asset Management).
Between them, these companies obtained loans of over two billion US dollars from the banks Credit Suisse and VTB of Russia - but the banks only lent the money, in 2013 and 2014, because Guebuza's government, in the person of the then Finance Minister, Manuel Chang, signed illicit loan guarantees that smashed through the ceilings on such guarantees set by the budget law. When the three companies went predictably bankrupt, the Mozambican state became liable to repay the loans.
Ndambi's assistance to Privinvest did not come cheap. He and his accomplices, Teofilo Nhangumele (who claimed paternity of the coastal protection project) and Bruno Langa, demanded bribes of 50 million dollars - 8.5 million dollars each for Nhangumele and Langa and 33 million for Ndambi, regarded as the crucial contact with the President.
The court also sentenced both Nhangumele and Langa to 12 years. Baptista pointed out that this was the maximum sentence he could pass for the combination of crimes the accused had committed (notably criminal conspiracy, embezzlement and money laundering).
The judge clearly believed that the sentence was too lenient, and thought that the Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic has made a serious mistake in the latest amendment to the Penal Code, in 2019. This made the penalty for embezzlement between eight and 12 years.
But in 1886, the penalty had been between 12 and 16 years, and a later amendment had increased the punishment to between 20 and 24 years. Baptista thought it urgent that the Assembly correct its error of 2019. But right now there was nothing he could do about it "since the judge only applies the law, he does not make it".
Baptista also sentenced the former head of the Security and Intelligence Service (SISE), Gregorio Leao, and the former head of SISE Economic Intelligence, Antonio Carlos do Rosario, to 12 years. SISE had effectively run the three fraudulent companies, and Rosario had chaired all three.
Leao and Rosario, said the judge, had headed the body that was supposed to protect Mozambican security. "They should have been the first guardians of society", he stressed, "They should have been the guardians of the public good and of the Mozambican state. Their duty was to protect the state, but they did not do so".
The court also sentenced Guebuza's former political adviser, Renato Matusse, to 12 years, and his private secretary, Ines Moiane, to 11 years. Both had taken bribes from Privinvest. Some of this money was channelled through Moiane's associate, Sergio Namburete, who also received an 11 year sentence.
Bypassing the Mozambican financial system, Gregorio Leao used his wife Angela and businessman Fabiao Mabunda to receive money from Privinvest - they too received 11 year sentences.
Baptista noted that the defendants showed no sign of repentance, or of willingness to repay what they had taken - with one exception. He was Cipriano Mutota, the former head of projects at SISE, who cooperated in the investigation by the Public Prosecutor's Office. He willingly handed over documents in his possession, and the judge believed that his repentance was genuine.
Nonetheless, he had committed the crimes of criminal conspiracy and money laundering, and Baptista sentenced him to ten years.
In addition to the prison sentences, those found guilty will have to repay the Mozambican state in full for the damages caused. The fraudulent loans to Proindicus, Ematum and MAM amounted to just over two billion dollars. Including interest, the amount rises to over 2.9 billion dollars.
Baptista ordered Teofilo Nhangumele, Bruno Langa, Angela Leao, Fabiao Mabunda, Renato Matusse, Ines Moiane and Sergio Namburete to pay the Mozambican state all the money they had taken as bribes from Privinvest.
But the main conspirators will have to pay much more. Baptista ordered Ndambi Guebuza, Gregorio Leao and Antonio Carlos do Rosario to pay 2.883 billion dollars. (That is the sum left from the corrupt loans, after the bribes to Nhangumele, Langa and Matusse have been subtracted).
Baptista acquitted eight other accused. These were minor players in the scandal, who, in the judge's view, did not take money knowingly from Privinvest. They included, for instance, three staff members at the Africambios foreign exchange bureau, which was used to launder Privinvest money. They did not know where the money came from, and they were just following instructions from the Africambios management.
The sentences by no means bring this saga to an end. Appeals will certainly be lodged, and will take a considerable time to process.
The lawyer for Ndambi Guebuza, Isalcio Manjane, fired the opening salvo. As he left the courtroom, he told reporters the trial was "political", and was aimed at the Guebuza family, particularly the former President.
DOCTORS' STRIKE ENTERS THIRD DAY
Maputo, 7 Dec (AIM) - The doctors' strike called by the Mozambican Medical Association (AMM) entered its third day on Wednesday, but most hospital services are still running.
The strike seems to be having most effect in Maputo, but even in the capital a large number of doctors have not joined the strike. The José Macamo General Hospital employs almost 100 doctors, but only around 20 of these joined the strike, according to a report in the independent daily "O Pais".
The hospital's director, Andrea Neves, said the most impacted services are outpatient appointments, and that emergency services, such as maternity and gynaecology emergencies, are operating normally. An AIM journalist had a consultation at this hospital on Monday and there was no sign of a strike.
Reports from the central and northern provinces report little support for the strike. The Nampula and Quelimane General Hospitals seemed to be operating normally.
The AMM is a voluntary body, and no recent figures have been issued for its membership. Neither the AMM nor the Ministry of Health have announced how many doctors have joined the strike.
The dispute is about the new public sector unified wage scale (TSU). Right across the public sector, the government is trying to simplify a wage structure that has grown chaotically over decades. All manner of bonuses and allowances are being consolidated into the basic wage, but the government insists that no-one will be on a lower wage after the TSU than before.
The striking doctors are trying to recover their old allowances, in addition to the TSU, and the government is resisting.
Much to the AMM's annoyance, the Health Ministry is using interns and military doctors to replace the strikers in some hospitals.
The AMM General Secretary, Napoleao Viola, was furious that doctors from the army are now working in the hospitals. "Military doctors have their proper sphere of operation, and it's not inside civilian hospitals", claimed Viola. "We aren't in an emergency, and the doctors are there to guarantee minimum services. We don't understand why military doctors have to be sent in".
But there is no reason to imagine that army doctors are any less competent than their civilian counterparts. Bringing them in to solve a problem of staff shortages seems an eminently sensible move.
RENAMO AND MDM PREPARE POSSIBLE COALITION
Maputo, 07 Dec (AIM) - Ossudo Momade, President of Mozambique's main opposition party, Renamo, and his counterpart from the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM), Lutero Simango, met on Wednesday in Maputo, in order to debate the country's socio-economic life, opening space for a possible political coalition in the forthcoming elections.
"Everyone knows that we are at the door of the municipal elections (scheduled for October 2023). It is necessary that we find a way to satisfy the Mozambican people in terms of socio-economic liberation", Momade said. But he warned "we are not talking about a coalition yet. It is premature to talk about coalitions."
"We are ready for more meetings, because it is necessary that we find a way to liberate Mozambicans. For the coalition, we need to work and get to know our parties", the Renamo president stated.
The people, according to Momade, are going through difficult times, and the slow functioning of institutions and corruption are the phenomena that most plague the Public Service.
"When we talk about the critical situation experienced by Mozambicans, we have to highlight, in the first place, the civil service that is struggling with corruption and the slowness that is experienced by users", Momade said.
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Regarding the strike by doctors, now in its third day, Momade said "our population is left to its fate; no one knows what happens in the hospitals."
"The doctors' strike is worrisome and the great responsibility lies with the government that cannot solve the problems of the employees of the state apparatus", he claimed.
Momade also called on the government to seek solutions so that people have adequate assistance in hospitals, "because it makes no sense for a patient to spend over 10 hours in a queue."
According to the Renamo president, he and Simango also discussed the resources that are being exploited in the country, notably natural gas and heavy mineral sands.
"These resources do not benefit Mozambicans. We followed, through the press, that gas is already being exported, but none of us [opposition parties] was informed, we are unaware of the existing agreements between the government and the companies", he said.
"We also debated about the elections, the way the polling stations are composed. We should work to create a law that guarantees electoral transparency, so that the opposition parties are also in the brigades of the polling stations", he said.
(In fact, this is already the case - thanks to opposition demands the last time the election legislation was amended, Frelimo, Renamo and the MDM are already entitled to appoint one member to the staff of every polling station in the country. This is in addition to the polling station monitors that each of the competing parties may appoint).
For his part, Lutero Simango, president of the MDM, said "this was an exploratory meeting to discuss the national political situation".
"We found that the country is being misgoverned and captured in a web of widespread corruption", Simango stated. "We made the commitment that there will be other meetings in search of solutions for Mozambique and the well-being of the people."
Simango also said that issues linked to unemployment and housing for the youth layer were debated, advancing that "the solution to Mozambique's problems is in our hands."
