Public enterprise CEOs on the chopping block
In the last three Cabinet meetings, Mozambique has witnessed a "storm of dismissals" targeting the CEOs of various public enterprises and government institutions, including Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM), Aeroportos de Moçambique, Instituto Nacional das Telecomunicações de Moçambique (INCM), and Instituto Nacional dos Transportes Rodoviários (INATRO).
This wave of dismissals seems to have no end in sight, especially considering the misconduct many of these leaders have been accused of.
TORRE.News boldly anticipates that Castigo Álvaro Cossa, CEO of Águas da Região Metropolitana de Maputo (AdRMM), and Victor Tauacale, Director-General of the Fundo de Investimento e Património do Abastecimento de Água (FIPAG), might be next to be dismissed.
Recently, both Tauacale and Cossa ordered water cuts to more than twenty schools in Maputo City, both primary and secondary, due to accumulated debts.
This measure forced some schools to close their bathrooms and others to request contributions from parents and guardians. The decision did not consider the importance of social institutions, especially at a time when COVID-19 is making a resurgence and the lack of water for hand hygiene could increase the risk of contagion.
Civil society views the lack of water in schools as a reflection of the problems in the education sector and questions why the company does not seek solutions at a higher level with the government to avoid extreme measures.
This practice of cuts is not new; it was also adopted by Marcelino Gildo, the former CEO of EDM, who was recently dismissed and replaced by Joaquim Henriques Ou-chim.
During Gildo's management at EDM, the state-owned company carried out relentless electricity cuts to institutions that failed to pay their bills, including public schools, hospitals, police stations, and provincial directorates, typically those with debts under 1 million meticais.
However, some ministries, including the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy, with debts exceeding 2 million meticais, escaped the cuts.
TORRE.News investigated and discovered that several ministries with significant debts are not targeted by EDM's cuts, generating outrage among the penalized institutions, which consider the measure extreme and detrimental to the functioning of the state apparatus.
Martinho Namburete, director of Eduardo Mondlane Secondary School in Maputo, stated that the lack of electricity has affected the school's operations, especially night classes.
In another dismissal, Tuaha Mote, the former Chairman of INCM, was removed from office and replaced by Helena Tubas.
During Mote's tenure, INCM was responsible for the controversial decree that increased internet tariffs in the country, a measure contested by society and later suspended by the government.
Aeroportos de Moçambique is facing an unprecedented financial crisis, exacerbated by a $130 million debt incurred for the construction of Nacala Airport, considered a "white elephant." The company is also managing debts exceeding 800 million meticais accumulated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Finally, INATRO, under the leadership of Chinguane Mabote, who was also dismissed, finds itself in a deadlock, lacking structural solutions to resolve the chronic transportation problem in the country.
