mozambique: MURDERED MOZAMBICAN ECONOMIST nominated for TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL AWARD

MURDERED MOZAMBICAN ECONOMIST
NOMINATED FOR
TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL AWARD

As part of the campaign to force the Mozambican government to investigate
the assassination of economist Antonio Siba-Siba Macuacua, a group of
prominent Mozambicans has nominated him posthumously for the 2003
Integrity Award of the anti-corruption body Transparency International
(TI).

Among those nominating Siba-Siba are: Mozambique's former first lady,
Graca Machel; former finance minister Abdul Magid Osman; the country's
best known writer, novelist Mia Couto; Supreme Court judge Norberto
Carrilho; prominent journalists Salomao Moyana and Machado da Graca; and
economists Roberto Tibana and Antonio Francisco.

A petition in support of the nomination (below) is now being circulated,
and readers of this newsletter and other supporters of Mozambique are
encouraged to sign.

Siba-Siba was the head of banking supervision at the Bank of Mozambique
and became emergency chair of the privatised Austral Bank when it
collapsed in April 2001 after fraud carried out by highly placed people.
Siba-Siba attempted to recover bad debts, including some from senior
people in government and in Frelimo. He also cancelled contracts signed by
the previous board, including one in with Nyimpine Chissano, son of
President Joaquim Chissano, who was paid $3000 per month despite his lack
of experience in banking.

On 11 August 2001, unknown assailants murdered Siba-Siba as he worked in
his office on the top floor of the Austral headquarters and threw his body
down the stairwell. The nominees for the TI award say that the murder of
Siba-Siba "was meant to send a signal that organized crime was very much
in control." They note that "there are no indications of firm steps being
taken by the authorities to seriously investigate, find the suspected
killers and their masters, and subject them to trial. On the contrary,
many people are still being subjected to pressure and made fearful of
continuing the call for justice."

A more detailed AIM report is below. A longer report on the bank scandals
and assassination of Siba-Siba is on the web on
http://www.mol.co.mz/noticias/metical/2001/en010917.html

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PETITION TO SUPPORT TI NOMINATION

In November 2000, journalist Carlos Cardoso was assassinated for
investigating bank fraud. Initially there was no investigation. But there
was an international campaign, including an award by Transparency
International. Under this pressure, the killing was investigated, and in
January 2003 six people were found guilty of that murder. A similar
campaign can force an investigation of the assassination of Siba-Siba. A
key step would be a TI award, and we ask economists and all those
interested in Mozambique and in justice and integrity to sign this
petition to Transparency International.
Alan Harding, Centre for Study of
African Economies, Oxford
Joseph Hanlon, Open University

If you wish to support this petition, which will be sent to the
Transparency International office in Berlin, Germany, please reply to [
mailto:[email protected] ][email protected] by 15 March stating
your name, address (city, country) and, optionally, your professional
affiliation. Also, please circulate this petition to your friends and
contacts.

TEXT OF THE PETITION TO TI:

"We, the undersigned, wish to support the recent nomination of Antonio
Siba-Siba Macuacua for the 2003 Transparency International Integrity
Awards. We believe that Siba-Siba would be a worthy recipient of this
reward in recognition of his outstanding courage, determination and
integrity as a government official seeking to investigate and publicise
widespread fraud and high-level corruption in the Mozambican banking
sector. We also believe that this award would play an important role in
putting necessary pressure on the Mozambican authorities to instigate a
full and comprehensive investigation into his brutal assassination on
Saturday 11 August 2001, which, to date, has been sadly lacking.

In his short career, António Siba-Siba Macuacua had already demonstrated
that he possessed the necessary qualities to be a role model for a new,
younger generation of Mozambican leaders wishing to work for a society
based upon transparency, justice and the rule of law. His assassination
was designed to send a clear message to those involved in Mozambican
public life that such a society is not achievable. By supporting his
nomination for this award and by demanding that those involved in his
murder be brought to justice, we wish to declare our solidarity with all
those in Mozambique who are working for higher standards in public life
and against the forces of crime and corruption."

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AIM ARTICLE
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104203E SIBA-SIBA NOMINATED FOR INTERNATIONAL AWARD

Maputo, 26 Feb (AIM) - A group of prominent Mozambicans have
nominated murdered economist Antonio Siba-Siba Macuacua
posthumously for the 2003 Integrity Award, the prize awarded by
the anti-corruption body Transparency International (TI).

Siba-Siba was the head of banking supervision at the Bank of
Mozambique. When the privatised Austral Bank collapsed under a
mountain of bad debt in April 2001, and its private shareholders
refused to recapitalise the bank, returning their shares to the
state instead, the Central Bank appointed the 33 year old Siba-
Siba chairman of a provisional board set up to rescue Austral.

Siba-Siba set about investigating the true state of the
Austral finances, and attempting to recover the debts. He even
had a list of over 1,200 debtors published in the main daily
paper "Noticias" in June.

He also cancelled those contracts signed by the previous
board which he regarded as worthless. One of the contracts he
tore up was with Nyimpine Chissano, oldest son of President
Joaquim Chissano, who had been hired as a consultant on the
breathtaking salary of 3,000 dollars a month, despite his lack of
experience in banking.

On 11 August 2001, unknown assailants attacked Siba-Siba as
he worked in his office on the top floor of the Austral
headquarters. They murdered him and threw his body down the
stairwell. Since that date nobody has been arrested for the
assassination, and the police have issued virtually no
statements, beyond the routine claim that investigations are
continuing.

Among those nominating Siba-Siba for the integrity award are
the country's former first lady, Graca Machel, former finance
minister Abdul Magid Osman, the country's best known writer,
novelist Mia Couto, Supreme Court judge Norberto Carrilho,
prominent journalists Salomao Moyana and Machado da Graca, and
economists Roberto Tibana and Antonio Francisco.

In their statement backing the nomination, they describe
Siba-Siba as "a man of integrity and competence, full of energy,
driven only by the sense of well-doing for his country, an
example for his generation and for generations to come, who was
perfidiously targeted by organised crime, and killed in the most
barbaric way".

The group argue that the murder of Siba-Siba "was meant to
send a signal that organized crime was very much in control and
would not tolerate those who crossed their line".

They note that "there are no indications of firm steps being
taken by the authorities to seriously investigate, find the
suspected killers and their masters, and subject them to trial".

"On the contrary", they add, "many people are still being
subjected to pressure and made fearful of continuing the call for
justice. Domestic civil society has awoken and is doing its best
to support and encourage those in the police and judiciary who
remain honest and willing to discharge their duties with courage,
responsibility and honesty, but there is a desperate need for
moral support".

The nominators argue that "By awarding Antonio Siba-Siba
Macuacua the Integrity Award and, in doing so, further raising
the awareness of the local and the international community and
organizations for his case, Transparency International will make
an important contribution to the cause of fighting against
corruption in Mozambique, Africa, and the world at large".

The nomination of Siba-Siba now goes to the Transparency
International Integrity Awards committee, which will draw up a
shortlist. The winners will be announced at the opening of
the 11th International Anti-Corruption Conference to be held in
Seoul, South Korea, on 25 May.

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Transparency
International, Peter Eigen, describes TI as "the only non-
governmental organisation dedicated to the struggle against
corruption". It has more than 90 national branches throughout the
world, working to reduce the supply and demand of corruption.

A recent article by Eigen notes that one in four of the
journalists killed in 2001 because they were investigating
corruption. That year TI awarded murdered Mozambican journalist
Carlos Cardoso a posthumous award, describing him as "a symbol of
tenacity and integrity in the battle against corruption".
(AIM)
pf/ (669)

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This e-mailing was circulated by Joseph Hanlon, [email protected], 2
March 2003.

ENDS