Maputo, Aug. 6, 2025 (Lusa) - The Office for the Management of Assets Seized in Mozambique took possession in 2024 of two hotels, dozens of properties and vehicles, and two mosques, among other assets, according to government information.
The data are contained in the office's activity report for last year, analysed on Tuesday by the Cabinet at its weekly meeting, as explained at the end by spokesman Inocêncio Impissa, adding that in 2024, three auctions of some assets were held, while others reverted to State use.
“In this context, the Asset Management Office has in its possession, and seized in 2024, in the cities of Nampula, Nacala and Maputo, two hotels, 17 properties and warehouses, 21 offices and shops, two mosques, a school, a clinic and a restaurant,” Impissa said at the end of the Cabinet meeting.
The Central Asset Recovery Office also received 28 vehicles, five trucks and 17 tractors, and last year seized 18 car sales lots, “with just over 600 vehicles”, and assets belonging to a farm, “such as various properties” and machinery.
Last October, the Mozambican Asset Management Office was managing 2,271 assets, then valued at 2.401 billion meticais (€33.5 million), as part of the fight against criminal activities, according to data reported at the time by Lusa.
According to data from that office, the list of assets, seized mainly since 2022, included 80 properties, 73.58% of which were the result of tax fraud and tax crimes and 12.86% of drug trafficking.
In 2024, the Ministry of Finance took over the management of assets and property seized or recovered for the State in connection with illegal or criminal activities, following a review of the duties and powers of that body.
The measure is contained in Presidential Decree 02/2024 of 4 March, which recognises the “need to review the powers and responsibilities” of that ministry. Specifically, among the powers already in force, the ministry assumes the “administration of assets and property seized or recovered on behalf of the State in the context of national proceedings or acts arising from international legal and judicial cooperation”.
In the management of seized assets, the decree also establishes that the Ministry of Finance must “preserve, protect and manage the assets and property seized and held by the State in a diligent and zealous manner”, as well as “determine the disposal, capitalisation, sale and allocation to public service or destruction of the assets” recovered.
Since 2022, Mozambique has had a Central Asset Recovery Office (GCRA) within the Attorney General's Office (PGR), with responsibilities for investigating, tracking, seizing and recovering assets.
In its first year of operation, the GCRA announced that it had recovered more than one billion meticais (€14.3 million) of illicit proceeds, including 30 properties and 12 vehicles.
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