The Mozambican government is registering around 30,000 properties in favour of the state, identified in the survey carried out in 2022, the Minister of Economy and Finance, Max Tonela, revealed on Wednesday, November 15.
“I must clarify that, during the 2022 financial year, the initial survey was carried out with a view to identifying existing state property, corresponding to around 30,000 inventoried assets, after which the registration and inventory process began with a view to regularising ownership in favour of the state,” said the minister, when presenting the final report of the 2022 General State Account in Parliament.
According to the minister, this is a “process of registering and regularising the legal status of assets, as well as the inventorying of state property, under the terms of the law”. He added: “Likewise, consultancy services are being contracted to design and develop an asset management system, with the aim of ensuring speed in the process of identifying, legalising and regularising state assets.”
The minister also emphasised that more than 650 state officials and agents at central and provincial level had been trained “in the State Assets Management Regulations”.
In the same speech, the Finance minister said that the real growth rate of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2022 was 4.2 per cent, “reflecting an improvement of 1.4 percentage points in relation to the estimates of the medium-term fiscal scenario, and 1.3 percentage points in relation to the project in the Social Economic Plan and State Budget (PESOE)” for the same year.
“Public investments totalling 72.6 billion meticais made in 2022 were strategically directed towards priority areas such as health, education and infrastructure, to meet the needs of the population in an efficient and equitable manner, registering an increase of 8.1% compared to the same period of the previous year,” he pointed out.
Also in Parliament, the minister was confronted with compliance with public procurement rules and procedures, after the Ministry of Economy and Finance recently cancelled public tenders due to suspicions of favouritism, guaranteeing that the government “continues to monitor actions (…), including supervision, training and technical assistance to state bodies and institutions as a way of mitigating inappropriate practices”.
“With regard to irregular procedures, measures are envisaged that may result in the cancellation, invalidation or suspension of the procurement process, as well as the liability of state agents or officials, under the terms of the General Statute of State Officials and Agents,” he pointed out, explaining that “for bidders, the rules provide for the payment of fines and a ban on contracting with the state, for a period ranging from one to five years, according to the nature of the offence.”
Regarding the planned Electronic Public Procurement, Max Tonela assured that it aims to “modernise and improve the procedures and transparency of public procurement, using electronic methods, open to monitoring by the private sector and civil society”.
