War business in Cabo Delgado: The Ministry of Defence removes Atanásio M’tumuke as subscriber on the ‘State Secret’s’ BCI account…

The bank account number 1041857710001, made public by the weekly Canal de Moçambique as the account where is deposited all the money destined for military and police forces rendering security services for the multinational companies Total and Mozambican Rovuma Venture in Cabo Delgado, displayed the name of the former Minister of National Defence, Atanásio Salvador M’tumuke. But not anymore. The name is gone, according to the outcomes of an investigation conducted by the Centre of Investigative Journalism (CJI). The former minister’s name, as can be seen in the irrefutable proof, disappeared this past Monday.

Of the Boomerang Effect

The journalist and activist Armando Nenane, executive director of the Mozambican Association of Judiciary Journalism (AMJJ), made a deposit of 50 Meticais in the mentioned account last Wednesday the 1^st, in order to, as a good citizen, contribute to the army’s fight against the terrorism that has been devastating the national sovereignty. The respective deposit slip displayed the name of the former Minister of Defence Atanásio Salvador M’tumuke. However, other deposits by CJI served to confirm the disappearance of the past official.

A transfer of 20 Meticais done last Saturday by another citizen through internet banking does not show the ex-minister’s name anymore, showing that the account’s titular is supposedly the National Direction of Logistics and Finances of the Ministry of National Defence. This shows the efficacy of the deposit method in any BCI agency, prompted by the human rights and citizenship journalist and activist Armando Nenane in his search for the truth.

Of the accusation by Canal de Moçambique

As we write, the journalists Fernando Veloso and Matias Guente, Director and Executive Editor of Canal de Moçambique, respectively, were constituted defendant by the Public Ministry in a court case where they are accused of violating the Secret of State, allegedly for making public a supposed classified as confidential contract between the multinational companies and the Ministries of Defence and Interior, with the object of providing security services for the former in exchange for compensations for the military od the Armed Defence Forces (FADM) of Mozambique and police of the Rapid Intervention Unit (UIR).

It is questionable, if not even controversial, the fact that the bank account at BCI (Commercial and Investment Bank) where the referred compensations are allegedly deposited still display the name Atanásio Salvador M’tumuke. How can a former government official still control the bank account of a national directorate belonging to a ministry? Some believe that this fact only demonstrates that the current Ministry of National Defence, Jaime Neto, is just a puppet or object being put in place simply for cosmetic effects. Because the fact is that the one that knows what is happening in Cabo Delgado and is subsisting on it is the former National Defence Minister, M’tumuke.

These new developments intensify even more suspicions according to which fraud is perpetrated by high government officials might be well hidden and protected by the Secret of State’s veil. In fact, Canal de Moçambique revealed that the money that should be given in the hands of the military in Cabo Delgado is in fact being ‘eaten’ by the ‘chiefs’.

Some days ago, this bizarre accusation was made against Canal, at a time when the war against the terrorists acting in Cabo Delgado since October of 2017 has resulted in more than 1,000 deaths, about 211,000 refugees and the destruction of several infrastructures.

CJI understands the gravity of the pronouncements made by Canal de Moçambique, which state that the money that should be destined to the military and police providing security services to the multinationals in Cabo Delgado is being ‘eaten’ by the ‘chiefs’, which would have created a BCI bank account for the effect. This accusation deserves a profound investigation by the General Public Prosecutor (Procuradoria Geral da República). According to the conditions of the confidential contract between those companies and the Ministries of Defence and Interior, made Public by Canal de Moçambique, the referred money should be distributed amongst the military of the FADM and police of the UIR in specific remuneration criteria:

• Superior officials (from Major up in the Ministry of National Defence, and superior officials in the Ministry of Interior – 315 Meticais a day;
• Subordinate officials (from Alferes to Captain in the Ministry of National Defence, and Subordinate officials in the Ministry of Interior) – 250 Mt a day;
• Sergeants (in both Ministries) – 200 Mt a day;
• Praças (Praças in the Ministry of National Defence, and basic category police guards in the Ministry of Interior) – 150 Meticais a day.

According to Canal de Moçambique, there are around 1,000 elements of the FADM who are, in their majority, not receiving the multinationals’ payment, which is causing a bit of confusion and demoralization, with indications that “the money has been going to the chiefs.”

Instead of prosecuting the journalists Fernando Veloso and Matias Guente for violation of the State Secret, as well as me now for “simulation” and “abuse of public authority,” which is already described as the habitual judicial persecution of the vowed enemies of the political power, the Public Ministry should focus more in investigating the destination of the money that is said to be destined to the military and police but doesn’t arrive. The Public Ministry is so distracted, that it didn’t understand the message that the newspaper was intending to convey, when exposing an information that someone intended to keep secret solely with the objective of concealed pilfering schemes behind the State Secret, has the newspaper proved.

According to Canal de Moçambique, besides de name of the former National Defence Minister, Atanásio Salvador M’tumuke, confirmed merely by a deposit slip, other names will be behind the same account, namely Patrício José (former vice-Minister of National Defence) and Fernando Campinense (Ministry of National Defence). This account, according to the weekly, raises many suspicions since the referred finance inputs should, in principle, go to the Treasury, where the minister very seldom signs personally the ministry’s checks. The correspondence exchanged under the above agreement is goes to Fernando Campinense (Minister of National Defence), Zefanias Muhate (permanent secretary of the Ministry of Interior), Steven Wilson (of Anadarko) and Mark Hackney (from Mozambican Rovuma Venture). The contract, according to Canal de Moçambique, was not certified by the Administrative Court as previewed by the law that regulates contracts with the State.