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Hidden Debts: Guebuza Claims That the Loans Were Intended to Prepare Mozambique’s Defence Against Attacks in Cabo Delgado

Hidden Debts: Guebuza Claims That the Loans Were Intended to Prepare Mozambique’s Defence Against Attacks in Cabo Delgado

Former Mozambican President Armando Guebuza said that the so-called ‘hidden debts’ contracted during his government were aimed at preparing the country to face imminent armed attacks in Cabo Delgado province, Lusa reported.

‘The famous idea of hidden debts is because we had to react to the situation in Cabo Delgado. We bought boats and trained people,’ said Guebuza, who was speaking at a lecture on the “Progress and Challenges of Contemporary Mozambique”, on the occasion of the Day of the Armed Defence Forces of Mozambique, which falls on 25 September.

Guebuza regretted that the defence plan had been dismantled, which he said had encouraged instability in the region. ‘It’s obvious that there was a dismantling of the structure that was designed to combat the insurgents, which favoured instability in Cabo Delgado province,’ he added, also pointing out that the planned response to contain the armed groups ended up being hampered by a lack of internal coordination.

The former head of state, who governed Mozambique between 2005 and 2015, also mentioned that the mobilisation of resources to fight the insurgency was seen by some sectors as a ‘betrayal’.

Although he didn’t directly point out who obstructed the efforts, Guebuza emphasised that the ‘lack of internal unity’ made it difficult to fight the insurgents in Cabo Delgado, a province rich in natural gas.

The hidden debts scandal dates back to 2013 and 2014, when the then finance minister, Manuel Chang, now in detention in the United States, approved state guarantees on loans from ProInducus, Ematum and MAM to the banks Credit Suisse and VTB, in absentia.

Discovered in 2016, the debts were estimated at 170.6 billion meticals (2.7 billion dollars), according to figures presented by the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

The trial was the culmination of almost four years of litigation in the British courts, to which the country appealed, alleging corruption, conspiracy to defraud by unlawful means and dishonest assistance to cancel debts and claim financial compensation worth millions of dollars.

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