The government said this Friday, 23 February, that the decision on renewing the contract with the South African company in charge of recovering national carrier Linhas Aéreas de Moçambique (LAM) depends on clarifying “very critical details”.
According to Lusa, the South African firm Fly Modern Ark (FMA) was hired in April 2023 to implement a restructuring and recovery plan for LAM. The carrier’s mission ends next April and it is not known whether or not the agreement will be renewed.
“The conclusion or renewal of the contract depends on the clarification of many critical details,” said Mozambique’s Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications, Amilton Alissone, speaking to journalists.
He said that the aspects that need to be overcome are being discussed with the FMA. “All aspects need to be duly perfected before any steps are taken,” he said, adding that the government had yet to assess the “performance indicators” included in the agreement with the FMA. “We have to evaluate the performance indicators, which have not yet arrived on the table. As soon as they arrive, we will evaluate them and take a firmer stance,” said Amiton Alissone.
On 12 February, LAM’s restructuring director denounced a scheme to embezzle money, with losses of at least almost three million euros, in ticket shops, through automatic payment terminal machines (TPA/POS) that do not belong to the company.
“We did a lightning job with LAM’s internal security to collect all the POS and, of the company’s 20 ticket sales points, we had collected 81 POS by Sunday. There are some shops where the managers themselves don’t recognise the machines and say they don’t even know who they belong to,” said Sérgio Matos at a press conference in Maputo.
Reacting to these complaints, the Institute for the Management of State Holdings (IGEPE), the organisation that manages the state-owned business sector in Mozambique, announced this week that it wants to see the alleged embezzlement and acts of internal sabotage at the airline investigated, and has requested an investigation by the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
“The IGEPE reiterates its commitment to fairness, transparency and legality in the management of public capital and expresses its willingness to collaborate with the investigations in order to ascertain the truth,” reads a statement.
