MOZAMBIQUE: FIGHTING CORRUPTION OR SHADOW BOXING?

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 MAPUTO 000573

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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

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Classified By: Ambassador Helen La Lime for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

Summary
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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
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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

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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
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10. (U) In April, in the conclusion of the "Joint Review," an
annual exercise in which the G-18 donors contributing to the

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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
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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