afrol News, 24 November - A new report on corruption in Mozambique strongly criticises the lack of understanding of the phenomenon among the political class of the country. The report predicts a growth in corruption after the upcoming elections, when a new leader has to establish and reward his new network of clients. Both candidates have a poor record regarding transparency.

President Joaquim Chissano is on his way out of Mozambican politics. While Mozambique has been listed among the world's most corrupt countries during his leadership, a growing vigilance by the national press and courts has hindered corruption from growing in importance.

With a new political leadership, "corruption may increase in Mozambique," warns renowned journalist Marcelo Mosse in his new 33-pages analysis titled 'Corrupção em Moçambique'. This increase in corruption further did not dependent on whether the ruling FRELIMO party candidate Armando Guebuza or the opposition RENAMO party candidate Afonso Dhlakama wins in the December election.

The new leadership "will need to establish its networks of clients and state funds will continue to among the sources of enrichment of the elites," predicts Mr Mosse. "The electoral dispute over the control of the state seems to be summarised in a dispute over the control of resources and redistribution of resources between partners."

In contrast, since Mozambique returned to peace and democracy, fighting corruption has been an issue in all electoral campaigns. All candidates have promised to move against corruption, maintains the author. But, "fighting corruption implicates understanding how and where it occurs," adds Mr Mosse.

- What are the existing structures of opportunity, what are the institutional weaknesses that open the most breaches for corrupt transactions to occur, he further asks. Mozambican politicians, he concludes, are not enlightened on the great structural problems making the widespread corruption possible.

According to Mr Mosse, "they all talk about small-scale corruption, but nobody mentions sectoral reforms and the independence of the judiciary. They all make a big notice of responsibilisation, reducing big politics to an expression without content. Nobody approaches the problem of accountability or the handling of interest conflict, nobody refers to integrity so that large-scale corruption seems not to exist."

The two main candidates to the Mozambican presidency are seen as unable to fight large-scale corruption in the analysis. FRELIMO candidate and wealthy businessman Guebuza is accused of having built his businesses on the same type of client relations that Mr Mosse sees as the main problem in contemporary Mozambique.

Mr Guebuze will "have many difficulties in promoting transparency, given his enormous business interests," the author predicts. Should the FRELIMO candidate win, he will also be met by non-existent procedures in handling the many interest conflicts he will face being President and businessman at the same time.

If the RENAMO opposition and its candidate, Mr Dhlakama, wins the election, the risks for Mozambique's public funds are not smaller, says Mr Mosse. Mr Dhlakama is often "cited as a bad manager who uses and abuses the 4 billion meticais (US$ 200,000) RENAMO receives from state treasury without any criteria for transparent management," according to the report.

The report is deliberately published short time before the general elections in Mozambique, with an aim of producing a public debate on the pervasive corruption in the country. It is dedicated to Carlos Cardoso, Mozambique's famous journalist that was assassinated when investigating a major corruption scandal.

According to Mr Mosse, little has changed since Mr Cardoso's assassination. "Transparency, integrity, handling of interest conflict, etc, are underdeveloped institutions in Mozambique. Clientelism, nepotism, favouritism, use of influence are deeply rooted institutions. Corruption has much space to develop," concludes the report.

By staff writers

© afrol News

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