Recently, the Minister of Economy and Finance, Max Tonela, annulled the tender process evaluating the rehabilitation works of the protocol house of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Verónica Macamo. The contract was awarded to a company owned by a member of the Frelimo party - like the Minister - and deputy of the Assembly of the Republic (AR) since Macamo was president of the "Casa do Povo".

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According to "Notícias", the rehabilitation of the aforementioned residence was budgeted at almost 17 million meticais. The authorization came from the Office of Assistance to Former Presidents of the Republic and Assistance to Senior State Officers. Until her last appointment as Minister, Macamo held the post of President of the AR for ten years, that is, two terms, from 2010 to 2020, in the governments of Armando Emílio Guebuza and Filipe Jacinto Nyusi.

"In accordance with paragraph d) of number 3 of article 33, in conjunction with number 2 of article 64 of the Regulations for Contracting Public Works, Supply of Goods and Provision of Services to the State, approved by Decree No. 5/2016, of March 8, it is reported that it was awarded through Tender No. 01/GADE/UGEA/2022, for the improvements and protocol adequacy works in the residence of the Former President of the Assembly of the Republic, the Company: Eco Village, Ltd - amount of the works of 16.715,790.00MT, including VAT," reads page 6 of that newspaper, edition of Friday, March 25, 2022.

The company "Eco Village, Lda" was created in 2015 and is owned by António Rosário Niquice, a member of the Frelimo party and deputy of the AR since Verónica Macamo was President of the House of the People, according to Canal de Moçambique.

António Rosário Niquice is described as the partnermor of the company with 90% of the shares, with the remaining 10% of the company belonging to Paula Maria Nhanala.

Besides being a member of the Assembly of the Republic, Niquice is the president of the Planning and Budget Commission of the Assembly of the Republic.

Under these conditions, in which Niquice holds public office, the CIP believes that there is room for suspicion regarding probity or impartiality in the deal.

The Mozambican Public Probity Law prohibits public servants from entering into any type of contract that, in the eyes of the public, could create a bad perception about their conduct or lack of integrity.

"Niquice should not have even participated in the contest in question," the paper writes.

Thus, there is the perception that Antonio Niquice may have used his public servant status inappropriately for individual/personal gain, which is not permitted by law. This may configure a situation of conflict of interest, in the terms foreseen in Article 43 a), which refers to the inappropriate use of the quality of public servant for individual or personal gains. Under these circumstances, public tender No. 01/GADE/UGEA/2022 should be immediately annulled, given that the awarding of the subject of the tender to a company owned by the aforementioned deputy raises suspicions about his performance in this process.