The war in Cabo Delgado has cost, between 2017-2020, at least 64 billion meticais (about $1.1 billion), says a study by the Center for Public Integrity (CIP).

The document cited by VOA reveals that in the country, spending in the defense, security and public order sectors has tripled since 2015, when it was 21 billion meticais.

Leila Constantino, a researcher at CIP, said that this increase is related to the conflict in Cabo Delgado.

The CIP study reveals that the traditional dilemma regarding accountability and confidentiality in the defense and security sector persists, potentially leading to contracting debt to cover the war budget.

Corruption

For Natalie Hogg of Transparency International, the justification regarding confidentiality is conducive to acts of corruption in the defense and security sector.

Hogg said that paying military salaries and contracting out services are the most complex areas.

"We have evidence in several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa where these two areas encourage corruption, for example with the payment of salaries of so-called ghost soldiers," Hogg said.

The study draws attention to the risk of the government resorting to extra-budgetary funds to make up the budget deficit for this sector, according to researcher Aldemiro Bande.

"It is common in countries rich in natural resources, as is the case of Mozambique, to finance wars of this nature with revenues from the exploitation of natural resources. This is a possibility also for our country", said researcher Aldemiro Bande.

Scrutiny

The CIP study reports that government spending on logistics, equipment, and military training to strengthen the capacity of the defense and security forces is necessary in order to better confront insurgents.

But he stresses that it is important that such spending be subject to public scrutiny, in general, and, in particular, the Assembly of the Republic, as well as internal control bodies.

It points out that the lack of transparency in procurement processes, corruption, and the absence of mechanisms for monitoring and controlling funds can lead to the inefficiency of the Defense Forces in combating terrorism.