Maputo, 2 Jun (AIM) – A prominent Mozambican NGO, the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), demands an urgent forensic audit aimed at investigating mismanagement within the state-owned company Mozambican Airlines (LAM).
The organization submitted a formal complaint to the Administrative Tribunal (TA) – the body responsible for checking the legality of Mozambican public expenditure – against LAM Management Commission for alleged involvement in “potential damage to public funds” in the acquisition of two Embraer-190s, capable of carrying up to 100 passengers each.
Two aircraft were acquired, over the last year, under LAM’s restructuring process but they have been grounded in South Africa for several months “for maintenance reasons.” The planes cost the airline 12.5 million US dollars each.
Agostinho Langa, chairperson of the Mozambican port and rail company CFM, one of the three state-owned companies managing LAM, recently announced that the two aircraft grounded in South Africa “are not operating because they are being repainted.”
According to Adriano Nuvunga, CDD chairperson, speaking to reporters on Monday, in Maputo, after submitting the complaint, public funds are being misused while the country continues to spend money on aircraft rentals.
“Six months have passed since December, and the aircraft are not flying. Mozambique continues to spend money on aircraft rentals, despite having its own aircraft where it has spent public money. It looks like the country is importing underdevelopment”, he said.
According to Nuvunga, CDD contacted the plane’s selling entity and it was found out that “the planes lack proper technical certification to operate commercially in the country. The argument that the aircraft had been undergoing painting for six months is false because, in the international aeronautical market, aircraft enter service days after their sale.”
Nuvunga also said that this case caused serious social damage and weakened the country’s civil aviation sector.
“There are indications of potential mismanagement of public resources and we call for an urgent independent audit into the process through which the aircraft were acquired. The audit could take the form of a forensic investigation aimed at determining possible accountability”, he said.
Nuvunga also criticized the delay of the Administrative Tribunal in responding to urgent actions from civil society, as complaints submitted before remain unanswered, “which means that the public must mobilize pressure on the oversight institutions.”
“The objective is to stop mismanagement before the closing of the annual accounts, ensuring the urgent accountability of LAM managers involved in the process”, he added.
Over the last 10 years, LAM, which used to operate with just two airplanes, has been shaken by a financial crisis involving corruption practiced by the company workers during the acquisition of services. The company has recorded debts with suppliers, valued at over 230 million dollars as a result of embezzlement.
In 2024, LAM was under the management of the South African company Fly Modern Ark (FMA), which was hired by the government to bring the company into profitability and rescue it from bankruptcy. However, the effort did not solve anything.
The company, under its restructure plan, is now managed by three state-owned companies, namely: Hidroelectrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB), the company that operates the Cahora Bassa dam on the Zambezi river, in the central province of Tete; the rail and port company, CFM; and the insurance company, EMOSE.
Zt/Am/
