Mozambique Ministry awaits evidence of redirection of Covid-19 funds to vulnerable families

The Mozambican government expects the “competent authorities” to publicly present evidence of the alleged redirection of funds allocated in 2021 to fight Covid-19 at the National Institute for Social Action (INAS), an official source said on Thursday.

“The matter is at the level of the Administrative Court. We must allow the competent authorities to produce evidence or evidence and therefore present it publicly,” Deputy Minister for Gender, Children and Social Action Lucas Mangrass told the media. on the sidelines of a seminar on fundamental rights organized this Thursday by the Office of the Ombudsman in Maputo.

This is an audit by the Administrative Court of Mozambique, which revealed a deviation of the equivalent of more than 24 million euros in funds allocated by the state in 2021 to prevent and mitigate the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In an audit report that Lusa had access to in December, the Administrative Court says it identified “matters that distort the financial reporting of funds allocated to prevent and mitigate the effects” of Covid-19 in the 2021 financial year.

A document sent to the government states that the National Institute for Social Action, a beneficiary government agency under the supervision of the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Action, incurred expenses amounting to approximately 1.71 billion metics (24.2 million euros), what constitutes “cost”. for which there was no evidence of payment for services under the contract, which constitutes a waste of funds.”

Lucas Mangrass reiterates the position of Gender, Children and Social Affairs Minister Nyeleti Mondlane, who said in February that there was no redirection given that the amount reached the most vulnerable families, referring any comments on the matter to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

“If people have doubts, there are institutions [de investigação] who is dealing with this problem,” said Lucas Mangrass.

The audit by the Administrative Court of Mozambique also found that improper payments amounting to more than 78.6 million metikays (1.1 million meticays) and unacceptable expenses amounting to 25 million meticays (354 thousand euros) were made.

Among other things, the Administrative Court also draws attention to contracts worth more than 57.3 million meticaises (EUR 811 thousand) not submitted for preliminary review, violations in the process of concluding contracts totaling more than 100.1 million meticais (1.4 million euros) and lack of documents confirming expenses totaling 11.7 million metises (165,700 euros).

The document recalls that, in view of the impact of Covid-19 on the economy, the Mozambican government has drawn up a “needs plan” with a budget of $700 million (€633.5 million), of which $100 million (€90.5 million) for prevention and treatment. $200 million (€181 million) for government budget support, $240 million (€219 million) for family transfers and $160 million (€145 million) for micro-businesses.

“In this sense, the government in April 2020 formulated a request for a loan to the International Monetary Fund, as well as a request for support from cooperation partners in order to cover the needs,” the statement said.

The audit concluded that “deficiencies” found in the control and management of these funds “contributed to the fact that the financial statements contained material misstatements”, namely “poor communication of the purpose of payments made” by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. due to “insufficient implementation or absence of control mechanisms”, due to “deficiencies in the organization of files and records of accountability processes.”