{"id":41174,"date":"2022-12-09T11:53:14","date_gmt":"2022-12-09T11:53:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/qa-adriano-alfredo-nuvunga-mozambiques-hidden-debt-scandal-trial-was-a-facade"},"modified":"2022-12-09T11:53:14","modified_gmt":"2022-12-09T11:53:14","slug":"qa-adriano-alfredo-nuvunga-mozambiques-hidden-debt-scandal-trial-was-a-facade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/qa-adriano-alfredo-nuvunga-mozambiques-hidden-debt-scandal-trial-was-a-facade","title":{"rendered":"Q&A | Adriano Alfredo Nuvunga: Mozambique’s ‘hidden debt’ scandal trial ‘was a facade’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>The trial that found a former Mozambican president’s son and 10 others guilty on charges related to the $2 billion (about R34 billion) “hidden debt” scandal this week was a facade that further exposed how deep corruption runs in the country, a leading civil society leader has told News24.<\/p>\n

Armando Ndambi Guebuza, son of former president Armando Guebuza, was the most prominent of the accused group and was effectively jailed for 12 years for his part in the scandal.<\/p>\n

His co-accused received sentences ranging between 10 and 12 years.<\/p>\n

But Professor Adriano Alfredo Nuvunga, the Director of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) and Steering Committee of the Mozambique Human Rights Defenders Network (RMDDH) says “it was a facade”.<\/p>\n

In an interview with News24, he unpacked what the ruling meant for Mozambique and the politics at play:<\/p>\n

– $2 billion scandal – <\/b><\/p>\n

The trial of the hidden debt was a facade. First of all it was not a trial about the $2 billion scandal. It was a trial of the kickbacks paid to Mozambican conspirators who facilitated the scandal.<\/p>\n

As per the audit report, about $300 million was paid to Mozambican conspirators, including the former president’s son.<\/p>\n

In the trial it was those who got the kickbacks, and not the case of the $2 billion, that led the country into economic ruin.<\/p>\n

– President Filipe Nyusi – <\/b><\/p>\n

We expected the trial to generate an automatic case against the sitting president because at the time of events he was defence minister.<\/p>\n

The scam was around defence and maritime security issues, and then the defence minister played a pivotal role.<\/p>\n

We hoped a case was going to be opened against him.<\/p>\n

The judge behaved like the president’s lawyer and appeared to protect him against all the allegations.<\/p>\n

– Selective secrecy – <\/b><\/p>\n

When the trial started it was televised and streamed on social media, which was good.<\/p>\n

But when it came to the discussion about the assets recovery, it was done in secrecy.<\/p>\n

All that theatre disappeared, and this goes against corruption cases where the fundamental aspect is asset recovery.<\/p>\n

– Light sentences – <\/b><\/p>\n

When the judge read the verdict, he confined them to between 10 and 12 years.<\/p>\n

This is disappointing, as in this part of the world, cases of stealing chicken and people who are involved in small robberies, are condemned to 10-20 years. But these people who connived to ruin the country got off lightly.<\/p>\n

This was treason, a crime against the people of Mozambique, but these people were given a maximum of 12 years. They have already spent four years in jail.<\/p>\n

That jail is a luxurious one, it’s almost a three-star hotel by European standards. They are basically not in jail.<\/p>\n

– Millionaire prisoners – <\/b><\/p>\n

With that said, these people were given such light sentences and they get to keep the stolen assets.<\/p>\n

The verdict is part of an orchestra of organised crime against the people of Mozambique.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. The trial that found a former Mozambican president’s son and 10 others guilty on charges related to the $2 billion (about R34 billion) “hidden debt” scandal this week was a facade that further exposed how deep corruption runs in the country, a leading civil society leader has told News24. Armando Ndambi Guebuza, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":41173,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[274,315,4084,308,314,2372,361,275,819],"class_list":["post-41174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-africa","tag-armando-ndambi-guebuza","tag-corruption","tag-crime","tag-crime-and-courts","tag-mozambique","tag-south-africa-2","tag-southern-africa"],"yoast_head":"\nQ&A | Adriano Alfredo Nuvunga: Mozambique's 'hidden debt' scandal trial 'was a facade' - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/qa-adriano-alfredo-nuvunga-mozambiques-hidden-debt-scandal-trial-was-a-facade\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Q&A | Adriano Alfredo Nuvunga: Mozambique's 'hidden debt' scandal trial 'was a facade'\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Africa-Press – South-Africa. The trial that found a former Mozambican president’s son and 10 others guilty on charges related to the $2 billion (about R34 billion) “hidden debt” scandal this week was a facade that further exposed how deep corruption runs in the country, a leading civil society leader has told News24. 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