The non-governmental organization (NGO) Cidadãos de Moçambique is suing the governor of Zambézia province, Pio Matos and his daughter, Marla Matos, as well as Ossemane Cacá..

According to a DWPio Matos and Marla Matos are accused of nepotism, embezzlement and fraud in the case of the purchase of a boat, which was supposed to connect Quelimane and Inhassunge. It was to be purchased with public funds through a company belonging to the governor's daughter, Pio Matos. In addition, there are accusations of illegal tendering and misuse of these funds.

The deal to buy the boat was awarded to Marla Matos' company, OK Corporation, without a public tender, which led to accusations of family favoritism. The boat, which should have been delivered in 2022, never reached its destination and there are suspicions that the funds allocated were misappropriated.

According to DW, the Attorney General's Office (PGR) has already heard from those involved, but the NGO Cidadãos de Moçambique has also decided to take legal action.

In the same publication, the NGO's member, Zito Rosário, stressed that the case represents a clear violation of the principles of transparency and good governance, explaining that the organization decided to proceed with the criminal complaint because, in addition to the obvious nepotism, public funds were used for private benefits, while the population continues to suffer.

"We filed this lawsuit because there is evidence of criminal practices in this deal involving the vessel in shares in Inhassunge and Quelimane, which are crimes of embezzlement, nepotism, misappropriation of funds and fraud. What we want is for justice and legality to be restored in this business, but also in our government," said Zito Rosário.

It should be remembered that in 2022, the provincial government of Zambézia, through the Provincial Directorate of Transport and Communications, directly awarded around 10 million meticais in a contract that provided for the acquisition of a vessel with a capacity of 42 seats and also cargo transportation capacity to serve for the public transportation of people and goods between Inhassunge and Quelimane.

According to the NGO, which invokes the Mozambican legal system, this amount cannot be awarded directly to a company.

"The boat should have arrived in 2022 and to date, 2024, it hasn't reached the population. That's why, as a civil society organization, we took the lead. First, we started a campaign to pressure the government authorities, specifically Governor Pio Matos, with messages and letters to demand that the ship be allocated to that route," the source explained.

"Our pressure has had results, but they are not the subject of the contract. They brought us a 30-seater, a luxury vessel, practically a yacht, which is not the subject of the contract," he continued.

For the NGO, the acquisition of this 30-seater vessel, instead of 42, shows that it was a solution reached on the spur of the moment because of the pressure exerted, pointing out that the governor himself admitted this publicly when the vessel was handed over.

"They found palliative measures so that this issue, since we're in election season, wouldn't come up again or wouldn't be on the table. But with our complaint too, the governor ended up diverting the ship to another district, which is the district of Chinde," he says.

The NGO also states that the fact that this company is owned by the governor's daughter, Fátima Caetano Vicente, who at the time was the director of communications transport, a direct subordinate of the governor of Zambézia province, "from the configuration alone we can see that there were clear indications of defrauding the state, not least because there was never any desire to acquire this vessel".

(Photo DR)