By Ricardo Dias
Maputo (MOZTIMES) –President Filipe Nyusi appointed Américo Julião Letela as the new Attorney General (PGR) on Tuesday, according to a statement from the President’s office.
He succeeds Beatriz Buchili, whose five year term of office expired three months ago.
There had been uncertainty over whether Nyusi would appoint a new Attorney General or leave the decision to his successor, who is set to take office on 15 January.
The new Attorney General is a seasoned magistrate with expertise in combating organised and transnational crime.
Letela has 20 years of experience, having served as a prosecutor in Inhambane, Gaza, and Cabo Delgado provinces, before advancing to the position of Deputy Attorney General at the High Court of Appeal in Maputo.
Since 2017, he has served as Deputy Attorney General in the specialised criminal division, and in 2022, he was appointed Director of the Central Office for Combating Transnational Organised Crime.
Letela assumes office in a context where Mozambique faces a surge in kidnapping, often orchestrated and financed from abroad through electronic currencies.
The country is also grappling with terrorism, funded both internally and externally, and is considered a transit hub for drug trafficking from Asia and Latin America to Europe.
In October 2022, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) placed Mozambique on its grey list due to the inability of law enforcement agencies to prevent and combat effectively transnational organised crime. (RD)
