Maputo, 23 Jan (AIM) – Mozambique’s Central Office for the Fight against Corruption (GCCC) has announced that it is charging ten people with fraud and corruption in connection with the scandal of school text books containing gross factual errors.
The scandal was detected by the Mozambican press in May 2022 and involved sixth and seventh grade social science text books. Embarrassed that basic errors had found their way into text books, the Ministry of Education set up a commission of inquiry which concluded that the Portuguese company that printed the books, Porto Editora, had been negligent.
But suspicions remained that bribes had been paid, and public contracting procedures had been violated. This was enough for the GCCC to open criminal proceedings.
The main targets of the GCCC’s investigations were senior Education Ministry officials and the three publishing houses involved in producing the books.
Based on a report from the General Inspectorate of Public Administration, on the contracts signed by the Education Ministry and the publishing houses, and on the statement made by the officials under investigation, the GCCC concluded that serious criminal conduct had occurred.
According to a report in Tuesday’s issue of the independent daily “O Pais”, false statements had been made, leading the Ministry to hire people as coordinators of the books who did not meet the necessary qualifications. The norms for purchasing goods and services for the Mozambican state were ignored, and the calendar for assessing the text books was not complied with.
Ministry officials requested undue payments from the publishing houses, and the latter offered gifts to the officials.
There were also cases of undue remuneration, in which fees were paid for work that was never done.
The GCCC concluded that there was enough evidence to charge the ten accused with corruption, fraud, abuse of office and payment of undue remuneration. The accused are nine Ministry officials and one of the published houses.
None have yet been named. The GCCC statement merely said that, at the time of the scandal, the accused “held management and leadership positions at various levels”.
Immediately after news of the scandal broke, in mid-2022, several leading Ministry officials were sacked, including the General Director of the National Institute for the Development of Education (INDE), Ismael Nheze, the National Director of Primary Education. Gina Guibunda, and the head of the School Books Department, Fabiao Nhabique. It is not yet known whether they are among those charged by the GCCC.
The GCCC announced that it has submitted the case to the Maputo City Court, for subsequent proceedings, including setting a date for a possible trial.
(AIM)
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