Rivers of money diluted by the State Cartel in the Zambezi Valley

Paulo Vilanculo"

Minister Roberto Albino of the Ministry of Agriculture, Environment, and Fisheries appears to be in agony over the corruption scandals that plague him, most notably the awarding by the Mozambique Cotton and Oilseeds Institute, an entity under the Ministry of Agriculture, Environment, and Fisheries, of a contract valued at approximately 130 million meticais to Future Technologies of Mozambique, S.A., a company established in April of this year, which raises serious suspicions of favoritism and conflicts of interest involving the Minister. However,after all, the haunting of connections of theMinister, Roberto Albinowith possible cartel consortiums, it has already been creating a smell and smoke since its previous monumental square, the Zambezi Valley State project, the Zambezi Valley Agency, which seemed to contemplate the development of the central region of Mozambique,a Zambezi development corridor project that is shrouded in a lack of transparency and does nothing to benefit its population.

Circulates on social mediaa document dated September 2, 2025, of the findings of the CEPAGRI (2006-2011) and Zambezi Valley Agency (CGE 2017) audit which describe that:

a)     at CEPAGRI (2006-2011):

Irregularities in the 2008/09 campaign credit program resulted in financing for 50 tractors worth 61.87 million meticais, of which only 3.06 million meticais, corresponding to 5%, was reimbursed, leaving 56.28 million in debt adrift. In the 2008/2010 campaign, an investment of over 284 million meticais was made, but only 2.9 million meticais was recovered, corresponding to 1% of the amount disbursed. Referring to (Sofala, 2009), sample irregularities were identified, including missing funds, four cases of payments without adequate support, and four cases of payments without proper documentation, totaling 59,180,000.00 meticais (fifty-nine million, fifty-eight thousand meticais).

b)     at CGE 2017:

The following were found: improper application of funds in payments for expenses outside the scope of the project – 3,724,943.48 meticais; Payments without delivery notes – 82,948,282.11 meticais; Payments without records in the financial years ended – 5,810,306.19 meticais; Payments without various opinions – 36,029,438.84 meticais; Payments to self-employed workers – 3,570,376.80 meticais; Failure to provide accounts of external funds (ISAII Project/Netherlands) – 230,072,845.28 meticais; Undeclared amounts (failure to provide accounts of own revenue) – 10,491,724.40 meticais. The total withdrawals in 2017 amount to 142,575,071.80 meticais (one hundred and forty-two million, five hundred and seventy-five thousand, seventy-one meticais). Insiders talk of flawed contracts, overbilling, "ghost" payrolls, and orchestrated schemes that diluted rivers of public money into the waters of the Zambezi, proclaimed as an engine of growth, whose materialization is barely felt in the region, that is, without ever fertilizing the impoverished banks for development with social impact.

These figures may not be felt in a country marked by successive corruption scandals that prove the plundering of millions of meticais from public coffers. For many Mozambicans, this evidence is not surprising; on the contrary, it only reinforces the perception that the state continues to be a privileged place for individuals and groups, as an inexhaustible source of wealth, to the detriment of collective well-being. The outbreak of Hidden Debts in 2016, involving more than USD 2.2 billion, incurred between 2013 and 2014, drastically affecting the state budget and the lives of Mozambicans, resulting from fraudulent contracts and bribes to state officials, which later became a soap opera about the "prison justice tent," symbolizes the greatest institutional capture.

The result is a scenario in which rivers of money from state coffers are diluted in shady consortiums, while society continues to face poverty and suffering. Instead of becoming avenues of opportunity, these corridors have functioned as invisible routes through which resources are diverted to feed private interests. What is shocking is not only the scale of the embezzled funds, but the naturalness with which such practices seem to have become institutionalized. Films of looting without any guilty parties or true convicts have been made over time, leaving Mozambicans naked, only in thongs and pacifiers, in an uncertain future, watching and remembering the emblematic literary work "tatana xa funha khuma," a legend that translates as "the man who eats ashes," while, ironically and in reality, this man is drowning in the abundance of honey from the pot or jar buried camouflaged beneath the feet of the poor Mozambican people. It is fair to say that Mozambique is in a vale of tears. Evil has overtaken good. The rulers are sick with the disease of darkness, of error; right has been replaced by wrong, illogicality tramples logic. In this regard, public outrage is real and growing. Each new scandal exposes the open wounds of a lack of accountability and transparency. The constant looting of millions of meticais in a country where glaring shortages persist in hospitals, schools, and roads becomes a daily insult to the majority struggling for survival. Should we bow down to thieves and worship them, the thieves who steal everything and everyone in sight? (Archbishopric of the Diocese of Nampula).

Now, the Minister of Transportand Logistics, João Matlombe, in the recent past, came out publicly to recognize and denounce the existence of cartels entrenched in the structures of the State. TheThe Minister said that cartels dominate strategic sectors, have captured the state, and absorb around 80% of revenues, driving Mozambique to a point of collapse. "There are cartels in every sector. There isn't a single sector that isn't hijacked within the state. There's always a group that controls it, that profits. It's not a new phenomenon, but it's rarely addressed by the government, especially when it comes to the strategy to combat this problem. "...it's urgent that the government take action before it's captured. Either we decide now, or we'll also be hijacked, or we'll continue to resist change (...) change will have to come from outside, since the state machinery is tied to deeply rooted practices," the Minister said.This revelation, far from being merely a gesture of political courage, raises a fundamental question: is the leader proposing a regeneration of the government itself, or is this yet another attempt at a reformist discourse that will end up stifled by the weight of impunity and vested interests?But does Minister Matlombe's complaint signal a turning point? The central question remains: is there room within the state apparatus itself to dismantle the same cartels that have entrenched themselves within it for decades? In other words, will the system continue to recycle moralizing rhetoric while, in practice, perpetuating the culture of state capture? Who will put the bell on the cat?

2025/12/3