The former Prime Minister (2012-2015), Alberto Vaquina, today criticized the government's late response to the shipwreck that occurred on Sunday afternoon (07) on Quissanga beach, on the island of Mozambique.

"I disapproved of the way things were done. The Frelimo party should have disapproved of this attitude. The Mozambican state would have been the first to disapprove of this kind of attitude in which things happen ad hoc or in tow of others," he said.

Vaquina regrets the fact that the authorities only spoke out after voices from other countries had done so in the first instance, such as the President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. In the former president's view, the government's attitude is regrettable.

"Those who had an obligation to protect Mozambicans, although they couldn't be there, should have given guidelines on how to deal with the case provisionally so that the preliminary causes could be determined and, subsequently, a communication to the nation explaining the situation," he said.

In an interview with Center for Public Integrity Podcast (CIP Cast)Alberto Vaquina also criticized the way the tragedy was communicated in the first few hours. In his opinion, the local authorities should have had some autonomy to communicate the situation to the country first, without having to wait for the Minister of Transport and Communications or the President of the Republic to make the tragedy public.

"Frelimo has done better than this, and there are experiences," he said, explaining that this situation reflects failures in governance. "And Frelimo comes from a great experience of governance that should serve as an inspiration for us younger people, who are now taking over the country's destiny, to know how to deal with more sensitive matters."