Africa-Press – Cape verde. The alleged irregularities denounced by PAICV in the Environment Fund and Tourism Fund and the classification of Cape Verde as the freest country in Africa in the Freedom House report marked the political sector in 2023.
In the year just ended, the publication of an audit by the General Inspectorate of Finance of the Tourism Fund and the Environment Fund made headlines in national and international media, revealing several irregular situations in the management of public resources.
In reaction, the African Independence Party of Cape Verde (PAICV) stated that the reports on Environment and Tourism funds were “a big scandal” and accused the Government of evading reports from the General Inspectorate of Finance.
In turn, the Minister of Finance, Olavo Correia, assured that the irregularities in the inspection reports on Tourism and Environment funds did not constitute crimes. Even so, he highlighted that, given the doubts in the reports, the Government decided to forward these statements to the Public Acquisitions Regulatory Authority (ARAP), the Court of Auditors and the Public Prosecutor’s Office so that the competent bodies could resolve the facts and arguments.
The MpD, through secretary general Luís Carlos Silva, accused the coordinator of the general inspection of Tourism and Environment funds of having diverted reports for partisan interests.
Still in this same context, the president of the Environment Fund, Mário Moreira considered the PAICV’s accusations “false”, ensuring that the institution was never notified by the IGF and that they were never aware of the report on the management of the fund.
Mário Moreira guaranteed that all Environmental Fund accounts since 2016 were duly delivered to the Court of Auditors and said he was unaware of any report from the General Inspectorate of Finance on the matter.
On the other hand, in 2023 Cape Verde was considered the freest country in Africa by Freedom House, also ahead of Portugal in the global ranking, with Equatorial Guinea in the worst position among Portuguese-speaking countries.
The ranking analyzes all countries in the world and once again placed northern European countries at the top of the list of freest countries, as has been the case in recent years.
When reacting to Cape Verde’s position, the Government, through the Minister of Finance, Olavo Correia, promised that the executive will continue to work to maintain the country as a reference in terms of transparency and good governance.
In parliament, some initiatives were discussed and approved, such as the proposed resolution that approved, for ratification, the agreement to create the headquarters of the CMCM in zone G, the new Cape Verdean nationality law, the bill classifying the Portuguese language as intangible cultural heritage of Cape Verde, the State Budget for 2024 and others.
However, Parliament rejected the resolution for the official celebration of the centenary of Amílcar Cabral’s birth, with the Amílcar Cabral Foundation expressing “surprise”, the president of the National Assembly, Austelino Correia, and the PAICV regretting the failure of the aforementioned resolution.
The bill that established a pension and guaranteed rights to military personnel from the first incorporation in 1975 and the Municipal Budget Basic Law were also rejected.
This year Cape Verde celebrated 48 years of independence, 32 years of democracy, the 99th anniversary of the birth of Amílcar Cabral, the centenary of the birth of Aristides Pereira, the 31st of the Constitution of the Republic with solemn sessions and commemorative activities.
The visit of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, who made a technical stopover in Sal on December 9th and met with Ulisses Correia e Silva, caused some tension between the Prime Minister and the President of the Republic, José Maria Neves, who said he was surprised the meeting between Volodymyr Zelensky and the head of the Government.
In turn, the Government in a statement confirmed that it had notified the Head of State about the meeting, however, the Presidency of the Republic refuted these statements claiming that “none of the usual procedures were followed by the Government during the visit of the Ukrainian President”.
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