Fly Modern Ark (FMA), the South African company hired to resurrect the accounts of Mozambique Airlines (LAM), found scars of corruption in the then management machine of the national flag carrier.

According to Lusa (via DW)In the case of the FMA, which obtained information during a meeting between the FMA and journalists, over-invoicing was found, i.e. cases where services were provided above market values, as well as the provision of "ghost" services without a contract.

The FMA holds the LAM administrators responsible, but refuses to reveal the cases and how they are being handled, for example whether they have been reported to the national justice authorities.

The Executive Director of the FMA, Theunis Crous, said that an "exhaustive" report is being prepared on the harmful management of LAM, and that some of these directors remain in the company and have shown "resistance to change".

He even described how some of these people "brought the company down".

LAM's General Manager has been João Carlos Pó Jorge since July 23, 2018. He was expected to hold the top job at LAM for 18 months, i.e. one year and six months. In the meantime, the engineer who joined LAM in 1985 (between 1995 and 2013 he worked for a foreign firm) has been there for five years and almost two months. Find out more....

LAM's salaries and services before the FMA

In April, severe financial difficulties led the government to place the national flag carrier under the management of the FMA.

Among other situations revealed by Theunis Crous is an alleged increase in remuneration decided by the then administration, for the administrators themselves, approved last January, of 100,000 meticais per month, "when the government was looking for a solution for the management" of LAM.

"We immediately stopped this," he said, guaranteeing that these administrators were asked to return the payments received from January to May.

The manager added that they had found cases of aircraft being chartered for far more than the market value, services provided to LAM which, in addition to high prices, lacked quality, such as catering, and others paid for without invoicing or contracts.

"When we arrived, a Boeing had been in Johannesburg for seven months undergoing repairs that should have been done in 30 days," he said, demanding responsibility but guaranteeing that LAM is viable.

"The company's greatest asset is the loyalty of Mozambicans to the LAM brand, who always come back despite the problems," admitted Theunis Crous.

"In South Africa, companies in the same situation [as LAM] have all been closed down. We have an opportunity here," he said, adding that he believed the airline could be an "important player" in the region. (DW)