Maputo, 30 Jun (AIM) – A prominent Mozambican NGO, the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), has accused the chairperson of the country’s Institute for the Management of State Holdings (IGEPE), Ana Senda Coanai, of remaining at her post although her term of office expired seven months ago.
In a statement, the CDD claims that the IGEPE chairperson has been in office for almost a year after the end of her second term. She was “initially appointed in 2015 by former President Filipe Nyusi, for a four-year term, Ana Coanai was reappointed in 2020 for a second term, which ended at the end of 2024, coinciding with the second term of President Nyusi.”
Before her appointment to IGEPE, Coanai was Deputy Minister of Land, Environment and Rural Development.
According to the IGEPE statutes, terms of office last four years and can be renewed. The legislation also stipulates that outgoing members remain in office until new members are appointed and take office. The CDD notes that “the decision on the leadership of IGEPE for the next cycle rests with Daniel Chapo’s government, at a time when any changes could signal new guidelines for the management of the state business sector, as well as the reconfiguration of the interests of the new ruling elite of the Frelimo ruling party, who have turned the companies in the state business sector into a cash cow”.
The organization believes that IGEPE’s strategic role goes far beyond its formal mission of representing the state in the companies where the State holds shares. “The Institute is politically, economically and strategically important, especially for the ruling Frelimo party”, CDD claims.
“By controlling IGEPE, Frelimo indirectly exercises command over strategic companies, which gives it the ability to direct investments, appointments and priorities, often in the service of party interests”, reads the CDD document.
According to CDD, the current state of affairs has implications at various levels, such as the lack of transparency and accountability.
“The partisan nature of the economy, favoring the party-linked elites, exacerbates inequalities in access to economic opportunities and it blocks structural reforms”, CDD alleges. “The maintenance of a business sector under party control hinders the implementation of reforms such as privatization or the professionalization of public management”.
(AIM)
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