On Thursday, March 19, the Mozambican Federation of Contractors (FME) accused the World Bank of allowing substandard construction to continue after withholding the results of investigations into a Chinese construction company awarded public works contracts in Mozambique.
“The prolonged silence, coupled with the withholding of information, creates the public perception that the Integrity Vice Presidency (INT)—the independent investigative arm of the World Bank Group—is protecting bad practices and bad actors, rather than promoting transparency and accountability,” said FME President Bento Machaila at a press conference in Maputo.
These statements follow a complaint filed by the FME with the Central Anti-Corruption Office (GCCC) against the hiring of a Chinese construction company, alleging irregularities in the 2024 tender awarded to the firm to carry out construction work in the municipality of Matola, in the south of the country.
This is a project financed by the World Bank, worth $250 million, as part of the Maputo Metropolitan Area urban mobility project, under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Transport and Logistics, which has been suspended by the GCCC due to irregularities, two years after the investigation began.
In January 2024, contractors asked the government to ban that Chinese company from carrying out construction work for the state, urging the Commission for the Licensing of Contractors and Civil Construction Consultants at the Ministry of Public Works, Housing, and Water Resources (MOPHRH) to initiate disciplinary proceedings for serious and repeated violations of its duties as a contractor.
Meanwhile, according to Bento Machaila, the GCCC advocated at the time for the suspension of the contract awarded to the firm, initiating investigations coordinated with the World Bank’s INT; however, two years later, the institutions remain silent, refusing to share the results of the complaint with third parties.
For the FME, the INT’s refusal violates a basic principle of institutional good faith and discourages any citizen or organization from collaborating in the future. The FME emphasizes that it still believes in the proper course of this process and calls for the public disclosure of the data, noting that the concealment of information only benefits corruption and poor governance.
“We demand a clear public response from the World Bank. Despite the discouragement caused by Integrity’s stance, the FME remains hopeful that the Office of the Attorney General, as a sovereign national institution and guardian of the law, will give the matter the attention it deserves, seeing the case through to its just conclusion and ensuring that those responsible for these practices are held accountable,” he added.
The representative noted that, given the INT’s silence, the population of the Maputo Metropolitan Area is confronted daily with the visible consequences of poor-quality construction. “The selection of contractors without transparency leads to poor-quality construction, which is further compromised by rains that frequently cut off roads and hinder traffic,” he concluded.
