Mozambique's president again accused of involvement in ‘hidden debts’ case

By Aurore Bonny

DOUALA, Cameroon (AA) - The son of Mozambique’s former president accused the country’s current head of state Tuesday of being involved in a corruption case in which more than US$2 billion was siphoned off from the state by raising it from global banks through guarantees provided by the government.

Armando Ndambi Guebuza, the son of ex-President Armando Guebuza, is on trial for allegedly accepting a bribe of US$33 million.

He is among 19 defendants in the “hidden debts” case who allegedly teamed up to steal from the state, leaving the country in a difficult economic situation.

"Who was part of the joint command was the minister of defense” at the time, Nyusi, so it is to him that "the question has to be asked,” Ndambi said a hearing Tuesday in his trial, which opened on Aug. 23 in the capital Maputo.

He added that Nyusi "is the right person to talk about the coastal protection project that caused the hidden debts," Mundo Ao Minuto, a Portuguese online media outlet, reported.

Ndambi, former President Guebuza and others, including former Finance Minister Manuel Chang, are accused of fraudulently obtaining around $2.7 billion in loans without parliamentary approval. They face other charges, including money laundering, fraud and embezzlement.

Ndambi is the third defendant to name the Mozambican president in the case.

Two defendants heard last week -- Cipriano Mutota, the former director of studies and projects at the State Information and Security Service, and Teofilo Nhangumele, who participated in the design of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) protection project, "stated in court that Nyusi agreed to the implementation of the said initiative as minister of defense," Mundo Ao Minuto reported.

On Monday in court, Ndambi also denied receiving money from Privinvest, a shipyard company accused of corruption in the "hidden debts" case. The sum in question is $33 million.

He refuted other charges that linked him to the company.

According to the Mozambican public prosecutor, the 19 people involved in the "hidden debts" case formed a gang to debase the state.

The said debts were contracted between 2013 and 2014 with the British branches of the investment banks Credit Suisse and VTB by Mozambican state companies Proindicus, Ematum and MAM.

According to Ana Sheila, the representative of Mozambique's national prosecutor quoted by the local press, the behavior of the 19 defendants "made the Mozambican state squander US$2.7 billion raised from international banks thanks to guarantees provided by the government."

Sheila also said that "all of them have harmed the country and left it in a difficult economic situation."