Africa-Press – Cape verde. The Coordinator of the Municipality of Praia Political Commission of the Movement for Democracy (MpD-poder), Alberto Mell o, announced today that his party will move forward, at the beginning of next year, with a proposal to audit the works of the Market of Coco, in Praia, which have been heavily criticized by the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV-opposition) .
At a press conference today in Praia, Alberto Mello said that the purpose of this audit is to demonstrate that the party he represents “does not move through opacity or illegality”.
“For this reason, it will request from the Constitutional Court the abstract review of the constitutionality of article 55, no1 of law no 24/XIX/2008, regarding the initiative of the National Assembly in requesting audits related to local authorities”, he explained.
Having said that, the leader of the party that supports the Government, advanced that after the Constitutional Court’s resolution, the MpD will come forward with a proposal to audit the works of the Coconut Market, so that, as he stressed, public opinion is clarified.
Parliament fails audit proposal presented by PAICV
It should be noted that in the last parliamentary session, the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV-opposition) presented a proposal asking the Court of Auditors to carry out an audit of the works of this infrastructure.
However, this proposal was rejected by the Movement for Democracy, a party with a parliamentary majority, “due to suspicions of unconstitutionality”.
In this particular, Alberto Melo, considered that it was an attempt by the PAICV to divert the attention of its governance in the Municipality of Praia, which, according to him, was guided by populism and propaganda, especially in the sponsorship and illegality of public resources.
For the MpD, the audit proposal presented by the largest opposition party persists in illegalities, as it violates the constitutional principle of the autonomy of local power, the separation of powers and the statutes of the municipalities.
Compliance with the Public Procurement Law
Alberto Melo defended, however, that the Coconut Market is one of the most “scrutinized” works in Cape Verde and that it complied with all the requirements required by the public contracting law, such as having been a public tender and complying with all stages of prior and subsequent inspection, at the level of the Court of Auditors and the municipality.
“This work, which also passed through the court’s scrutiny (…) three years ago, the Attorney General’s Office, through the former prosecutor, appointed by the former prime minister, José Maria Neves, issued a filing note of the complaint filed by the then PAICV leader, Janira Hopffer Almada”, added Alberto Mello.
However, he clarified that it is not for lack of funds that work has not been restarted for the completion of the works, “since in 2019 the MpD Government made available 350 million escudos for the completion of the market within the scope of the Requalification Program, Rehabilitation and Accessibility (PRRA)”.
Of this amount, he informed, the Government transferred 136 million escudos, with a view to starting the work to complete the works.
“The remainder has not yet been transferred because the current municipal management of PAICV has decided not to complete the market, that is, it is not for lack of funds that work has not been restarted for the completion of the work”, concluded the coordinator of the Municipal Political Commission. from Praia do MpD.
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