Africa-Press – Cape verde. Augusto Neves, mayor of São Vicente, was warned, once again, of the possibility of dissolution of municipal bodies, for refusing to comply with the recommendations of the investigation of facts related to the meetings of the executive body of that city hall, made by the Inspection and Audit Services and the General Finance Inspectorate, for disagreeing with the conclusions of the inspection report. Neves is said to be “quiet” and waiting for the Public Ministry’s pronouncement.
Faced with the repeated refusal of the Mayor of Mindelo, the Inspection and Municipal Audit Services (SIAA) gave another ultimatum to Augusto Neves, reminding him that the CMSV must comply with the recommendations of the report regarding the resumption of normality in carrying out of regular meetings. This taking into account that, for this reason, it is in a situation of “repeated serious illegality”, which, under the terms of article 133 of the Municipalities Statute, “may lead to its dissolution”.
Faced with the contempt of Augusto Neves, according to A NAÇÃO sources, the Ministry of Territorial Cohesion will request the intervention of the Public Ministry in order to promote the declaration of nullity of the deliberations taken on January 2 and in the subsequent meetings, referenced in the report of inquiry.
The SIAA guarantees, on the other hand, that the investigation was carried out in accordance with the norms, methods, norms and techniques carried out in actions of this nature, with a view to execution “with quality and efficiency, and aimed at verifying the reported facts, through document analysis and hearings”.
Augusto Neves says he is “quiet”
In a press conference held this week, in Mindelo, Augusto Neves said, in relation to the impasse that reigns in the CMSV, he is calm, because his team works and the Chamber works with tranquility.
“What the law requires and it is up to us, as president of the CMSV, we have done and in time. We have the Activity Report that we presented in February/March, in accordance with the law; We have the 2021 Management Account prepared and the Activities and Budget Plan for 2023. We hold all fortnightly meetings from January to September. And we have all the work schedules.”
“Now, if the opposition councilors do not approve them, it is their responsibility”, he declared, stressing that this is a situation that is already at the level of the Ministry of Social Cohesion and the Public Ministry, for analysis of the deliberations or another decision, depending on the situation. the law.
An arm wrestling that promises
Behind this conflict between Augusto Neves and the opposition councilors (UCID and PAICV) is, remember, the investigation of the facts related to the CMSV meetings. The inspection team concluded that, during 2022, the Chamber “did not actually hold any session”, which in light of article 134 of the Municipalities Statute constituted a “serious illegality” capable of generating the dissolution of this municipal body, in terms of the law.
The aforementioned report also considered that the failure to hold the sessions of the Municipal Assembly for the appreciation of the report on the activities and management accounts of the CMSV constitutes, under the aforementioned article of the Municipalities Statute, a “serious illegality”.
This incident is justified by the fact that the CMSV “did not comply” with the legal procedures of these instruments as determined by law. In other words, these documents must be submitted to the Chamber, before being considered by the Municipal Assembly.
Regarding the meetings considered null, the inspection team concluded that the session scheduled for December 30, 2021 was “irregular”, since the email by which councilor Albertino Graça was summoned was missing a letter and, “ consequently, the notice sent in the e-mail did not reach its recipient”.
Regarding the ordinary session of January 2, 2022, the report highlighted that, despite the “inconsistency” in the notice regarding the indication of the session number, as the twentieth, instead of the first, “the notice was valid, insofar as it expressly announced the day and the points to be dealt with at the meeting”.
Still in relation to that same meeting, the inspection team was surprised by some situations that it recognized “do not constitute illegalities”, but “are anomalous” to the functioning of the Chamber.
The fact that this meeting was convened for a Sunday is at issue, especially considering that some councilors have requested that it be changed to the following day, Monday, or to Thursday, which is the day, according to the minutes, in which the CMSV sessions are normally held.
In addition, the urgency to convene a session of the Chamber on a Sunday was not justified, nor was it communicated to the support staff, doorman, recording technician, etc.
The report says that, according to the email from the municipal secretary, Elisangela Soares, she was informed by Norina Morais Santos, who was secretary of the meeting, the absence of technical support staff was due to the fact that the mayor considered that there was no need for such communication.
However, despite the fact that this meeting had a required quorum to function, the deliberations taken in that session by the four of the nine members of the CMSV “have no legal effect”, since “there was no deliberative quorum required”, that is, “it would be necessary that at least five members had deliberated”.
Deliberations must be declared null by Augusto Neves
In order to solve the problem of the legality of the CMSV’s acts, the action team to investigate the facts related to the Chamber meetings had recommended to President Augusto Neves to declare nullity of the deliberations taken at the meeting on January 2, 2022, with the non-compliance of the deliberative quorum required by law. Likewise, it must also declare the nullity of the deliberations taken in the meetings held only with the councilors of the UCID and the PAICV.
Within a maximum period of 10 days, from the date of receipt of the report, which was delivered to the CMSV on the 24th of this month, Augusto Neves should provide the Inspection and Municipal Audit Service of the Ministry of Territorial Cohesion with the information proving the implementation of the recommendations.
The inspection team also appealed to the CMSV to return to normality in the holding of meetings, under the terms of the Municipalities Statute and to resolve the issue of the deliberations taken at the meetings held during this year, mainly with regard to the approval of the activity report and management accounts of that municipality.
Challenge continues
From what he made known this week, Augusto Neves is not inclined to accept, for the time being, the SIAA’s recommendations, saying he prefers to wait for the Public Ministry’s pronouncement. As he said, he and his two councilors are calm.
For More News And Analysis About Cape verde Follow Africa-Press
