US embassy cable - 05MAPUTO421

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MAPUTO 000421 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
AF/S FOR HTREGER 
NSC FOR CCOURVILLE 
MCC FOR GAULL AND HARRINGTON 
AF/RSA FOR KATHLEEN MOODY 
H 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, ECON, MZ 
SUBJECT: MOZAMBIQUE: STAFFDEL FLYNN AND STAFFDEL CHAKA 
VISIT MARCH 23 - 29, 2005 
 
REF: A. MAPUTO 395 
 
B. MAPUTO 388 
 
1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Please handle 
accordingly. Not for internet distribution. 
 
Summary 
------- 
2. (U) Senate Foreign Relations Committee Minority Staff 
Member Heather Flynn (March 23-28) and House International 
Relations Committee Majority and Minority Staff Members Malik 
Chaka and Dr. Pearl Alice Marsh (March 25-29) visited 
Mozambique over the period March 23-29. During their 
overlapping visits, the staffers met with government 
officials, civil society members, and private sector 
representatives to discuss combating corruption, progress 
toward a compact with the Millennium Challenge Corporation, 
the economic and political difficulties in Zimbabwe, port and 
coastal security issues, and the 2004 national elections. A 
trip to the port city of Beira gave them a view of the 
negative impact of the Zimbabwe crisis on that city. End 
summary. 
 
ANTI-CORRUPTION EFFORTS IN MOZAMBIQUE HAMPERED BY JUDICIARY 
3. (SBU) On March 24, SFRC Staff Member Flynn, along with 
Ambassador La Lime and USAID Director Jay Knott, paid a 
courtesy call on Mozambique's new Minister of Justice, 
Esperanca Machavela. Machavela emphasized that judicial 
reform was at the center of her agenda for the Ministry, but 
that reform efforts were hobbled by limited financial 
resources and poorly trained officials. According to 
Machavela, many prosecutors and judges in Mozambique had 
insufficient training to carry out their duties effectively. 
She reported that she hoped to double the number of 
individuals receiving legal training during her tenure. 
(Minister Machavela,s statements on trafficking in persons 
issues are reported in Ref A.) 
 
4. (SBU) The head of the Attorney General's Anti-Corruption 
Unit (ACU), Isabel Rupia, told Staff Member Flynn and the 
Ambassador in a separate meeting of the difficulties the ACU 
faced in prosecuting corruption cases. Rupia reported that 
the ACU received 171 denunciations between March 2004 and 
February 2005, of which it investigated 119. Following the 
investigations, the ACU issued indictments in 17 cases. 
However the courts had refused, in every instance, to 
prosecute any of the 17 cases. Rupia blamed their refusal 
both on shortfalls in the new anti-corruption law that 
provided the judges with too much leeway and a conspicuous 
lack of political will within the judiciary. She stressed 
the need to pressure the judges to bring cases to trial, and 
implied such pressure would have to come from the highest 
levels of government. Rupia emphasized that the fight 
against corruption did not start and end with the ACU, 
underlining that public support and political will by the GRM 
leadership were essential to successfully confront 
corruption. 
 
5. (SBU) In another meeting with Staff Member Flynn, Attorney 
General Joaquim Madeira made similar complaints. He blamed 
the backlog of corruption cases in the courts on the fact 
that judges do not give priority to these cases. Further, 
most judges "take the easy way out" by sending corruption 
cases back to the prosecutor's office rather than ordering 
more investigation and/or bringing the case to trial. 
Madeira stated he would need more full-time staff and better 
investigative support from the police to enable the ACU to 
expand its work and issue more indictments. He indicated 
some help was on the way, with 11 law school graduates to be 
placed as prosecutors in district offices and additional 
staffing increases expected with the approval of the 2005 
state budget currently under debate in the National Assembly. 
? 
6. (SBU) Madeira, who has been rumored to be in jeopardy of 
losing his position, gave an ambiguous response when asked if 
he thought he would retain his post under the new Guebuza 
government, answering that he had neither been asked to 
resign nor asked to remain beyond his current tenure. He 
repeated at several points during the meeting that regardless 
of who was the Attorney General, the institution had good 
permanent prosecutors and was improving each year. (Comment: 
Madeira was appointed as Attorney General by former President 
Chissano in 2000. The entry into force of Mozambique,s new 
constitution has left observers unsure how long Madeira,s 
current term is to last. Over the last few weeks, Madeira 
has been the focus of harsh criticism over his annual report 
to Parliament on the State of Legality in Mozambique. 
Parliamentarians from both the FRELIMO and RENAMO parties 
attacked his report for being too general, stating it glossed 
over key activities, particularly regarding high-profile 
investigations into the murder of journalist Carlos Cardoso 
and senior bank official Sima Sima. He has given similar 
reports in previous years that were defended by FRELIMO 
deputies, and many believe that their criticism this time is 
a sign that he may be on his way out. End Comment.) 
 
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OUTLINES GOVERNMENT'S FIVE-YEAR 
PLAN 
7. (U) Minister of Foreign Affairs Alcinda Abreu outlined the 
GRM's five-year plan in a meeting with Staff Member Flynn on 
March 24 and in a March 29 meeting with Staff Members Chaka 
and Marsh. According to Abreu, the plan's objective is to 
reduce levels of poverty in Mozambique by focusing on 
HIV/AIDS and rural economic development. Abreu expressed 
pleasure at the level of attention Mozambique has received 
from the United States since the Guebuza administration came 
to power less than two months ago, noting several visits 
Mozambique has received from Washington since then. Abreu 
recognized that programs such as the Millennium Challenge 
Account (MCA) will play a key role in Mozambique's economic 
development, and was pleased with the March 13-23 visit by a 
Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) delegation, which she 
stated had helped Mozambique better define its project 
proposal. Ambassador La Lime praised the GRM for its work in 
developing Mozambique's MCA concept paper and urged the 
government to establish a full-time team dedicated to 
refining its proposal and working with the MCC. 
 
8. (SBU) Staffers Chaka and Marsh praised Mozambique as a 
model of post-conflict transition and expressed hope that the 
government would take an active role in resolving the crisis 
in Zimbabwe. Minister Abreu asserted that Mozambique was 
following the situation closely. She also hoped that 
Mozambique could contribute to building a stable Zimbabwe, 
but she stressed that her government's approach has been and 
would continue to be one of dialogue rather than isolation. 
Abreu said she was encouraged by the reduced level of 
violence in the runup to the March 31 elections as compared 
to past campaigns, and she reported that Mozambique would 
send six individuals to observe the elections, including at 
least two government officials. 
 
MOZAMBIQUE AND THE MCC: THE ROAD TO A COMPACT 
9. (SBU) In a March 28 meeting with Staff Members Chaka and 
Marsh, members of Mozambique's MCA technical team reported 
that as a result of the March 13-23 visit by an MCC 
delegation, the technical team had decided to refine 
Mozambique,s proposal to focus on water, sanitation, roads, 
technical assistance, and financing to support tourism and 
agricultural processing. Technical team leader Pedro Couto 
of the Ministry of Planning and Development confirmed the 
government's willingness to support the MCC process, but 
noted the difficulty in coming up with resources at this 
point in the 2005 budget cycle to support the creation of a 
full-time government MCC team. The technical team is 
awaiting an aide-memoire from the MCC to summarize the 
delegation,s visit and outline next steps on both sides. 
Staff Members Chaka and Marsh commended the GRM for its 
extensive consultations in developing its concept paper. 
 
10. (SBU) The Staff Members discussed MCC issues on several 
other occasions, including with business and civil society 
representatives. In Beira, members of the Beira Business 
Association told the three staffers that they had proposed 
projects in Sofala province. (The current proposal is 
limited to the northern part of the country and does not 
include any projects in Beira.) 
 
COASTAL SECURITY 
11. (SBU) During a March 24 visit to the Port of Maputo, 
Staff Member Flynn met with Maputo Port Development Company 
(MPDC) Operations Director Ken Shirley and Port Facility 
Security Officer Willie Nel. Nel reported that Maputo port 
was the first of Mozambique's three major ports to be fully 
compliant with the International Ship and Port Security 
(ISPS) Code, receiving accreditation in June of 2004. MPDC 
had given a high priority to security in the first phase of 
its three-year rehabilitation program, and a range of 
improvements were implemented to achieve ISPS standards 
before the deadline. However, according to Nel, the 
Mozambican Navy, the body responsible for overall coastal 
security, had not acceded to MPDC's request for support. Nel 
felt that that any effort by the Navy on coastal security at 
Maputo port would require additional support from MPDC, due 
to the virtual absence of resources in the Navy. He noted 
that the two patrol boats donated to the Navy by the French 
in September 2004 (ref B) were not suitable for the port's 
patrol purposes, suggesting they were too big for the harbor 
area but too small for the open seas. 
 
BEIRA AND ZIMBABWEAN CRISIS 
12. (U) On March 26, the three Staff Members, accompanied by 
Charge Dudley, visited the port city of Beira, capital of 
Sofala province. Beira is Mozambique's second largest city 
and is an important port and rail terminus for the region. 
While in Beira, the staffers met with the governor of Sofala, 
the mayor of Beira, and members of their governments, toured 
Beira port, met with Customs officials, visited the Belita 
Textile Factory, and spoke with members of the Beira Business 
Association. A central theme of the meetings was the 
negative impact on the economy of the Zimbabwe crisis. 
Regional Customs Sub-Director Goncalves Mandava stated that 
revenue collection from duties has fallen significantly since 
the Zimbabwean crisis began. Members of the Beira Business 
Association (ABC) contended that local businesses and 
investment had suffered extensively due to a decrease in 
trade with Zimbabwe. Another issue negatively affecting 
investment, according to the ABC President Zaide Aly, was 
difficulty in obtaining capital. Long-term capital was not 
available to most Mozambican businessmen, and those that 
secured medium-term loans often paid as much as 30 percent 
interest rates. 
 
13. (U) Another key theme of the visit to Beira was the 
importance of improving water-borne access to the port. 
Sofala Governor Alberto Vaquina said that insufficient 
dredging of the port was a barrier to increasing economic 
activity in the province. This concern re-emerged in a 
meeting with the city's mayor, Deviz Simango, who said that 
silt removed from the channel could be profitably utilized in 
a coastal development project. Officials at the Belita 
Textile Factory, the only factory in Mozambique currently 
exporting garments to the U.S. that receive AGOA benefits, 
also cited the need for dredging in the harbor. Belita 
depends on sea shipments for both the import of raw materials 
and the majority of its exports. According to a port 
official, there are plans to dredge the channel this year but 
CFM, the state-owned entity responsible for the project, has 
yet to sign a service contract with a dredging company. The 
last time the port was dredged was in 1992. 
 
COMMENT 
14. (SBU) The Staff Members used their meetings to explain 
favorable Congressional perceptions of Mozambique and discuss 
issues of concern. The timing of their visits enabled them 
to get a sense of the actions of the Guebuza government in 
its first two months, as well as the status of Mozambique,s 
MCC proposal. Their travel to Beira afforded them a 
first-hand view of the impact on the city of the crisis in 
Zimbabwe that complemented the previous stop in Zimbabwe by 
Staffers Chaka and Marsh. They also heard from a variety of 
other interlocutors concern about the situation in Zimbabwe 
and an acknowledgement of its importance to Mozambique. End 
comment. 
 
15. (U) The Staff Members did not have the opportunity to 
clear this message before departing Mozambique. 
LALIME