Africa-Press – Mozambique. The Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM), the second largest opposition party in the country, calls for an independent audit in all publicly-owned companies in order to verify their financial management, including investments made in recent years.
According to MDM leader, Lutero Simango, speaking on Thursday at the opening of the 9th ordinary session of the Assembly of the Republic (AR), the Mozambican parliament, the embezzlement of money from public companies not only recapitalizes them, but that they also lose the ability to meet their tax obligations to the state.
Simango was referring to the embezzlement of around 3.2 million dollars from the coffers of the publicly-owned company Mozambique Airline (LAM), recently discovered by Fly Modern Ark (FMA), the South African Company hired by the government to bring LAM into profitability and rescue it from bankruptcy.
According to Simango, the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) must investigate the embezzlement of money in LAM, in order to hold accountable those officials involved in corruption schemes.
“Public companies don’t pay their taxes according to their actual production”, he said.
Recently, the Institute for the Management of State Holdings (IGEPE) became aware of embezzlement, properties acquired in favour of some LAM officials, bank accounts set up abroad and sales outlets (POS) held by people outside LAM.
“The question that remains unanswered is: where is this money going”, Simango asked.
The municipalities, he said, claim that they are financially incapable of keeping their cities clean, while citizens pay the rubbish tax when they pay electricity bills.
The head of the MDM parliamentary caucus also pointed to the company Water Supply Investment and Assets Fund (FIPAG) as deserving of a financial audit.
“We can conclude that the very high electricity and water consumption costs charged by Electricity Company, EDM, and FIPAG, respectively, may be following the same strategy of plundering money for private accounts”, he said.
For More News And Analysis About Mozambique Follow Africa-Press
