This Wednesday, the Ministry of Finance launched the Green Line for Reporting Corruption in Public Procurement Processes..

According to Finance Minister Carla Louveira at the launch, the platform aims to guarantee transparency in the use of state goods and services.

The launch comes at a time when the number of corruption cases in public institutions has been rising sharply, creating huge losses in state accounts.

“In recent years, the Mozambican state has been receiving complaints about possible illegal charges for the payment of goods and services to suppliers. This practice constitutes an act that requires swift treatment and accountability of the offenders,” said the minister.

According to the official, the Mozambican state regularly concludes contracts for public works, services and the supply of goods with the private sector, through public tenders launched by various state entities, where national and international private operators and companies from different branches of activity compete.

He revealed that on average, the state budget allocates around 34.0 billion MT per year to goods and services, equivalent to 2.2% of GDP, as well as around 30.0 billion MT to investment financed by internal resources, equivalent to 1.6% of GDP.

This Wednesday, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Ministry of Finance and the Attorney General's Office with a view to implementing a hotline to report corruption and other irregularities in the public procurement process.

In her opinion, the implementation of the national green line for submitting complaints in the context of the public procurement process will contribute to improving the provision of services and business between the state and the private sector and service providers, and the creation of an efficient, transparent, stable, secure and fair business environment.

For his part, the Attorney General, Américo Letela, explained that the Memorandum signed has clear objectives. “Firstly, to create an accessible, secure and reliable whistleblowing channel, capable of guaranteeing the confidentiality of whistleblowers and the traceability of the information received.

Secondly, to establish a framework for inter-institutional collaboration in which the Ministry of Finance will ensure the development and operation of the Whistleblowing Line, while the Attorney General's Office will assume responsibility for giving legal treatment to complaints, investigating and promoting the accountability of criminal agents involved in illicit practices.”.

The hotline can be reached via telephone on 1726.