- Denunciation of corruption was submitted to the Public Prosecutor’s Office in 2019 but to date nobody has been held responsible.
- The son of finance Minister Adriano Maleiane used his influence on the Tax Authority to make payments to the supplier
By Sheila Nhancale
Maputo (MOZTIMES) – The Tax Authority of Mozambique (AT) in 2016 invested 70,203,799.90 Meticais in contracting a computer system to manage Tax Machines (SGMF), but up until now the project is not operational.
There are suspicions of corruption involving senior staff of the AT and managers of the service provider. Dino Maleiane, the son of Finance Minister Adriano Maleiane, was involved in the business to demand that the AT make payments to the supplier of the tax machines, who is his friend.
Denunciations of corruption were submitted to the Public Prosecutor’s Office in 2019, but so far no measures have been taken to hold those involved responsible. This exposes serious failings in preventing and fighting against corruption.
The AT launched an international public tender, No. 01/AT/16 in 2016, for contracting a system intended to modernise and optimise tax collection and promote efficiency and transparency. The project was known as “tax machines”.
The Lis/Inspur consortium was chosen. This consists of the companies Lis-Sistemas Integrados, Lda and Inspur (Chinese). Lis-Sistemas Integrados, Lda is owned by Hélio Mahanjane (60%), Alberto Clésio dos Santos Nhamposse (30%) and Lis Moçambique (10%) – the majority shareholder in this last named company is Hélio Mahanjane. The consortium was hired to provide services valued at 70,203,799.90 Meticais. It received the full sum of the contract, but the project never worked.
Hélio Mahanjane, interviewed during the research, confirmed that he had received payment for the full value of the contract. He said that it is up to the Tax Authority to explain why the project never became operational. The AT did not reply to the letter requesting information, which was sent more than three months ago.
Documents consulted during the research prove that at least two instalments were invoiced and paid by the AT into the account of Lis-Sistemas Integrados, Lda. The first invoice was issued in November 2017, to the value of 21,061,139.97 Meticais and was paid on 22 December of the same year. The second invoice, to the value of 28,081,519.96 Meticais, was paid on 3 October 2018. All the payments were made into the bank account of Lis-Sistemas Integrados, Lda, domiciled in the now extinct Banco Único.
It was also found that part of the funds intended to finance the project were diverted to pay commissions to senior AT staff.
A map of payments to which the MOZTIMES researchers had access shows the plan of paying commissions to persons who are not explicitly identified. Coded language is used to identify these persons.
It was found that the payments are bribes and/or illegal commissions for the AT staff who facilitated the business, and also for Dino Maleiane, son of the Minister of Economy and Finance.
On the list of illicit payments there figure, for example, persons named “Manipulador” who received 5,920,000.00 Meticais, “Brother of your friend” who received 3,100,000.00 Meticais and “AT technical support” who received 600,000.00 Meticais.
Alberto Nhamposse, one of the shareholders of Lis-Sistemas Integrados, Lda, stated that the terms “Manipulador” and “Brother of your friend” refer, respectively, to Bruno Rodolfo, the Project Director in the Tax Authority and to Dino Maleiane, son of the Minister of Economy and Finance, Adriano Maleiane.
In an interview with MOZTIMES, Nhampossa explained that it was his partner Hélio Mahanjane who revealed the identity of the beneficiaries of the bribes and illicit commissions.
Hélio Mahanjane and Dino Maleiane denied that they were involved in payments, and in reception of illicit payments related with the project. However, Dino Maleiane said he helped his friend Hélio Mahanjane, asking senior staff of the Tax Authority about the stage of payment of the invoices submitted by his company. He mentioned specifically that he spoke with Muanjuma Sualé, who at the time was in charge of the finances of the AT. Currently Muanjuma Sualé is the AT delegate in Nampula province. He said that he had also spoken with the general director of the Common Services of the AT, Venâncio Francisco. However, he denied that he had received any benefit in exchange for the contacts he had made. He did everything to help his friend.
Bruno Rodolfo, when contacted refused to make any statement, alleging that all communications related with the project must be submitted in the Tax Authority and not through his personal contact.
About 30 days before contacting Bruno Rodolfo, the research team sent a letter to the Tax Authority but the team so far has not received any reply.
The case shows the vulnerability to corruption of public contracting processes in Mozambique. Mozambican legislation envisages and punishes corruption, as in the case of Law no. 12/2024, of 18 June, which strengthens the principles of public probity, and Decree No. 79/2022, of 30 December, which establishes mechanisms to guarantee transparency, equality and efficiency in contracting. Mozambique is also a signatory to the United Nations Convention against Corruption and to the African Union Convention on Preventing and Fighting Corruption, which require clear measures to promote transparency in public contracts.
Although laws that envisage and punish corruption are in force, the institutions of the administration of justice show that they are incapable of applying the law, which favours the impunity of acts of corruption.
According to the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) of 2023 of Transparency International, Mozambique is in the 146th position of 180 countries with a score of 25 out of 100 possible. This shows high levels of corruption which have a negative impact on economic development and public confidence.
No action from the Public Prosecutor’s Office
The Public Prosecutor’s Office, through the Maputo City Attorney’s Office, in 2019 received a denunciation of corruption in the AT, related with this case, and opened case file no. 204/20. The denunciation was submitted by one of the partners of the company that won the tender, Alberto Nhamposse, who stated that he did not agree with the diversion of funds to pay AT staff, and with other problems of mismanagement. However, five years have passed since the Public Prosecutor’s Office received the denunciation and the case has not advanced.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office is responsible for protecting legality and defending public interests (line b} of Article 4 of Law no. 01/2022, of 12 August), and there is evidence of inertia in this case, which raises questions about the effectiveness of the judicial system in Mozambique in the fight against corruption. Inaction by the Public Prosecutor’s Office compromises the credibility of the institutions responsible for justice and perpetuates the culture of impunity.
According to the case documents consulted, Alberto Nhamposse was summoned to the 2nd section of the Attorney’s Office on 29 December 2019, where he made statements minuted by prosecutor Carlos Banze, the representative of the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Law Court in the KaMpfumo Municipal District.
Despite these initiatives, since that hearing to the present, the Court has not issued any dispatch of any sort. Five years after the case was opened, the lack of progress raises serious concerns about the effectiveness and promptness of the justice system in handling cases of corruption involving public institutions. (SN)
*Research financed by the Centre for Public Integrity (CIP) under the Programme for the Fight against Corruption in Justice
