Mozambique’s minister of transport and communications, Mateus Magala, said on Friday that the Mozambican executive has confidence in the South African company called in to manage the country’s airline, following accusations of debt and corruption by the new manager.
“We have confidence in the managers of LAM [Mozambique Airlines], in those who are helping us with our agenda of transforming LAM into a credible company, and [we believe] that we will reach our goal,” Mateus Magala told journalists during the reopening of the boat that links Inhaca Island to Maputo city.
The Mozambican transport minister was reacting to the latest accusations, made by South Africa’s Fly Modern Ark (FMA), of alleged corruption by some LAM managers, as well as irregularities in the implementation of measures for the company’s recovery.
Mateus Magala recalled that the flag carrier is undergoing reforms that need time, considering “change management” a “very important issue” during the process.
On 14 September, the South African company acknowledged that customers owed the flag carrier 1.2 billion meticais ( €17.6 million) in June, including the ruling Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo).
“In the meantime, collections, debt payment plans and reconciliation of accounts have been made,” explained Zita Joaquim, from the FMA, at the same meeting, while conceding that the debts are owed by public and private companies, ministries, the armed forces, public institutions and others.
When questioned by journalists, the woman responsible for finance and accounting in FMA’s management of LAM said that one company alone, which she did not identify, owed the airline almost 50 million meticais ( €733,000).
In the case of Frelimo, she recognised that “it is one of the entities that is off the list of flights on credit”, given an initial debt of 22 million meticais (€323,000), of which it has since paid five million meticais (€73,400), while recognising that this is also a problem for the company, as it has allowed these arrears to accumulate.
The FMA took over management of the state-owned airline in April and recognised that LAM had an estimated debt of around US$300 million (€277.7 million), according to figures provided at the time.
The ongoing strategy to revitalise the company follows years of operational problems related to a reduced fleet and lack of investment, with some non-fatal incidents recorded, associated by experts with inefficient aircraft maintenance.
Lusa
