MOZAMBIQUE: FIGHTING CORRUPTION OR SHADOW BOXING?

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 MAPUTO 000573 SIPDIS C O R R E C T E D COPY (CORRECTED TEXT) SIPDIS AF/S FOR HTREGER NSC FOR CCOURVILLE MCC FOR SGAULL E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/15/2016 TAGS: KCOR KCRIM PGOV PREL MZ SUBJECT: MOZAMBIQUE: FIGHTING CORRUPTION OR SHADOW BOXING? REF: A. 05 MAPUTO 1653 ¶B. 05 MAPUTO 559 MAPUTO 00000573 001.5 OF 003 Classified By: Ambassador Helen La Lime for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) Summary -------------- ¶1. (SBU) Apart from continued strong rhetoric and some mid-level action by the Guebuza government, the GRM has not moved very far in tackling corruption in the past year. In August 2005 the government released the results of a nationwide survey, which revealed deep concern by the populace over corruption. And this April it announced its long-anticipated National Anti-Corruption Strategy. But so far concrete action has been disappointing, leading donors to complain that the government has made little headway. End Summary. Perception is Reality -------------- ¶2. (U) Mozambique's score on Transparency International's 2005 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) remained 2.8, the same as its 2004 measure (ref B). Other nations that scored on par with Mozambique include Algeria, Argentina, Madagascar, Malawi, and Serbia and Montenegro. Mozambique ranks among the lowest of its southern African neighbors, with Namibia, South Africa, and Botswana all ranking well above Mozambique, scoring 4.3, 4.5 and 5.9 respectively. ¶3. (C) On August 3, 2005, the GRM finally released its National Survey on Governance and Corruption, though it was much delayed and only in part made public. (Comment: Many observers believe the GRM delayed its release to hide lack of progress in fighting corruption. They assert that timely and full disclosure of the survey results, initially slated for September 2004, could have severely damaged FRELIMO's image in advance of the December 2004 general elections and might have hobbled the incoming Guebuza administration. End Comment). The document, resulting from a survey of families, civil servants, and businesses, concluded that corruption is perceived as a pernicious reality across almost all of the country's public institutions. The report listed the most affected services as customs, justice, licensing, procurement, revenue collection, inspection, and budget administration. Police in general, and traffic police in particular, were listed as particularly corrupt public institutions. Media and religious congregations were described as the most honest. The report also highlighted as a weakness the lack of an effective mechanism to detect and punish corrupt practices, as well as serious deficiencies in institutions that defend the law and rights of citizens. Some forward movement in the past year... -------------- ¶4. (U) President Guebuza continues to make fighting corruption a key component of his GRM's plan to reduce absolute poverty, and corruption remains a central theme in all his public addresses. To a limited extent, some of his ministers have acted. Minister of Public Works Felicio Zacarias, Minister of Education Aires Aly, and Minister of Interior Jose Pacheco all have taken steps to weed out corruption, publicly admonishing and dismissing some officials (though few in number) within their respective ministries suspected of corrupt activities. Apart from these mid-level dismissals, there were two other notable sackings last fall -- the dismissal of the head of the National Institute for Social Security, Elina Gomes, and the firing of Labor Ministry representative in South Africa, Pedro Taimo. ¶5. (U) In December 2005 Interior Minister Pacheco announced the results of an internal audit of Ministry of Interior accounts, revealing that approximately USD 8.8 million in funds gone missing under his predecessor, Almerino Manhenje (ref B). The audit also uncovered 55 "ghost workers" on the Ministry's books, all of whom were receiving monthly wages. Press reports indicated criminal proceedings would be initiated against officials involved; however no further details on the audit findings or proceedings have yet been made public. ¶6. (SBU) Earlier, in September 2005, Attorney General Francisco Madeira announced the creation of the Central Office for the Combat of Corruption (GCCC),born from a MAPUTO 00000573 002.4 OF 003 restructuring of the Attorney General's Anti-Corruption Unit (UAC),previously Mozambique's primary corruption fighting office. Unlike the UAC, the GCCC now functions as an autonomous unit under the Attorney General's Office, with its own line item in the State Budget and authority to hire additional permanent full-time prosecutors and investigators. Some progress into investigating corruption cases appears to have been made since the restructuring. An FSN employee reported that the GCCC recently followed up with her on a corruption case involving traffic police that she reported to the unit (then the UAC) more than a year ago. Higher level cases have also seen movement. In September 2005, former Education Minister Alcido Nguenha was summoned to the Attorney General's Office to answer questions on charges of corruption and theft of property. And this March the GCCC detained seven individuals accused of diverting over USD 400,000 in public funds. ¶7. (SBU) In another positive development, in April Attorney General Madeira agreed to placing, for six months initially, a U.S. legal advisor in the GCCC, to help prosecutors and investigators in the GCCC develop their techniques and skills. He indicated that such an advisor would be able to join the GCCC in the fall of 2006. Including a National Anti-Corruption Strategy -------------- ¶8. (C) This April the Council of Ministers approved the much-anticipated National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NACS), which is part of a larger public sector reform initiative aimed at improving public administration and delivery of services (ref A). Critics note, however, that although the NACS presents a well-thouQ out commentary on the issue of corruption in Mozambique and outlines broad objectives on how the GRM can address the situation over the next five years (2006-2010),it lacks a detailed implementation plan. And they add that it also does not go far enough in addressing key issues including measures on conflict of interest, asset disclosure, implementation resources, and salary reform. With the publication of the NACS, necessary next steps include establishing a Technical Committee and National Anti-Corruption Forum responsible for designing and implementing an action plan, as well as the design of corruption strategies for each sector to be implemented by respective ministries. (Comment: Some observers fear that the GRM will treat the NACS as a "check-box" exercise and stall tactic, resting on the good will created by its approval and exhibiting little intent to actively promote its implementation. End Comment.) However, just weeks after the release of the NACS, the Mozambican National Assembly unanimously ratified the anti-corruption conventions of the African Union and the United Nations. Civil Society -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Civil society and the media continue to play an important role in fighting corruption. Mozambican journalists frequently report on corruption cases, and often serve as the principle source of information on such issues for the general public. Scandals involving two former ministers (Education and Interior) received significant attention in the press over the past year, as did the dismissal of various mid-level public officials suspected of corrupt acts. Civil society, though still quite weak and somewhat ineffective, has gained ground with the establishment of a new corruption "watchdog" organization, the Center for Public Integrity (CIP). The group is headed by investigative journalist Marcelo Mosse, who is considered a leading researcher on corruption in Mozambique. Over the last six months, CIP has organized seminars on "Corruption in Mozambique's Education Sector" and to discuss the draft National Anti-Corruption Strategy. Comment: Further USG support aimed at strengthening civil society and the media to expose corruption would be beneficial, and Post's FY2008 Mission Performance Plans includes tactics to support such efforts. End Comment But Donors Concerned about Lack of Progress -------------- ¶10. (U) In April, in the conclusion of the "Joint Review," an annual exercise in which the G-18 donors contributing to the MAPUTO 00000573 003.4 OF 003 state budget together with the government conduct an assessment on progress toward agreed upon targets, the donors singled out good governance as an area where progress "has not been satisfactory." Noting in an Aide Memoire to the Review that some anti-corruption targets were "partially met," they stressed that the anti-corruption effort must be accompanied by "specific action-oriented plans." In particular, they cited the infrequency of inspections and audits as one of the government's failings. External auditors carried out 68 audits in 2005. The authors called for making the audit results public, but, according to press reports, the GRM has yet to do so. The delay in the roll-out of the general accounting mechanism for the budget, known as SISTAFE (ref B),is another of their complaints -- SISTAFE is unlikely to be fully functional until 2007, at the earliest. ¶11. (SBU) In late 2005 USAID sponsored an in depth study of Mozambique's corruption challenge and possible anti-corruption measures. The resulting report was delivered to President Guebuza and his advisors in February for consideration. To date, we have not heard back from the GRM on the report. Comment -------------- ¶12. (C) For the past 12 months the GRM has taken only small steps to match its anti-corruption rhetoric. We, along with other donors, intend to increase pressure on the GRM for more concrete action. One important benchmark will be follow through on the GRM's National Anti-Corruption Strategy. Another will be the performance of the GCCC, particularly once the US advisor in on board. An informal corruption donor working group (with representation from the G18 and US Mission) has been established, and we intend to share the USAID-funded report with our counterparts in our efforts to coordinate the activities and objectives of donors involved in anti-corruption efforts. La Lime