The opposition political parties [Resistência Nacional Moçambicana (Renamo) and the Movimento Democrático de Moçambique (MDM)] argued in Parliament that the Mozambique Sovereign Fund (FSM), which was definitively approved on Friday 15 December, is incomplete and lacks transparency.
“Our caucus voted against it because the proposal doesn’t guarantee transparency, plus the government doesn’t know how much money will be needed to materialise the national development strategy,” said Fernando Bismarques, an MDM MP.
According to the source, “the proposal gives the operational manager, in this case the Bank of Mozambique, the power to hire external managers without an international public tender, opening up space for nepotism, patronage and the risk of hiring managers with a history of corruption”.
In the same vein, Alfredo Magumisse, a Renamo MP, considered that the instrument lacked transparency, arguing that “this fund, which is imposed on us, is only limited to the mineral or hydrocarbon resources of the province of Cabo Delgado, specifically in the Rovuma basin. If, by any chance, Katembe were to have oil tomorrow, the revenues would not be part of this fund.”
As well as considering the proposal to lack transparency, the main opposition party in Mozambique believes that the mechanism excludes various segments of Mozambican society.
“Renamo and the Mozambican people advocated the creation of a high authority that would allow the integration of all sectors or all the living forces of society, namely the private sector, democratically elected members of the Assembly of the Republic and the government itself, who would participate on a daily basis in the direct management of the revenues,” he said.
For its part, the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo) argued that the approved proposal will “maximise” the benefits of gas exploration, classifying it as “rational” for revenue management.
“We voted in favour because this bill stabilises the state budget in the event of oil company volatility, accumulating savings for future generations,” said Mário Amaral.
The proposal to create the FSM, presented by the government, received 165 votes in favour from Frelimo alone, while 39 opposition MPs voted against.
