The Central Office for Combating Corruption (GCCC) has opened a criminal case to investigate responsibility in the embezzlement and mismanagement of funds allocated in the context of the response to Covid-19 in the country.

The data were shared by this body on the occasion of the launch of the African Day for the Fight against Corruption, which takes place on Monday.

The GCCC states that its investigation was based on the conclusions of the report it requested from the Ministry of Finance, in which the Administrative Court finds, among other situations, irregularities related to direct awards and undue payments and application deviations.

In the document quoted by the newspaper Notícias, the Administrative Court indicates that about two billion meticais were diverted or misused, in the name of actions to combat the pandemic.

As the source says, the cases of corruption, embezzlement and mismanagement of funds detected have to do with the failure to comply with transparency and accountability measures in procurement and management processes.

Meanwhile, related to the issue, at the level of Nampula province, two processes were opened regarding the embezzlement and mismanagement of funds, and one of them has already been charged. One concerns the purchase of sanitation material and the other, still under investigation, the purchase of masks.

Regarding the latter, according to the GCCC, the masks were purchased but when they were distributed to the beneficiaries it was found that the quantities were smaller than declared, which points to an over-invoicing scheme.