Maputo, Aug. 22, 2025 (Lusa) - Mozambique's government wants the General Inspectorate of State and Food Security to act as a "real body" in control and inspection, ensuring that it is "rigorous" in the management of public affairs, the minister of state administration said on Friday.
'The proposal to create the General State Inspectorate, which will be merged with the General Finance Inspectorate, aims to provide the Mozambican state with a central body capable of preventing, detecting, investigating and combating corruption, as well as providing integrity and ethics, acting as a true control and inspection body for public decision-making and society in general,' said Inocêncio Impissa, the minister of state administration and civil service.
According to the government official, who was speaking in Maputo at the opening of the seminar to consult on the creation of this entity, the two institutions, which should report directly to the president of Mozambique, should above all ensure "greater coherence, efficiency, effectiveness and rigour in the management of public affairs", as well as the implementation of public policies and the "rational use of resources" of the state.
"The proposal to create the general inspectorate for food and economic safety responds to the need to protect the Mozambican economy and, above all, the condition to safeguard the well-being of our population by strengthening surveillance and control over the quality and safety of food," said Impissa, adding that the body should also monitor the functioning of markets and compliance with economic standards, thus contributing to "consumer protection and social justice".
The minister, who also acts as spokesperson for Mozambique's government, announced that work is underway to restructure the general inspectorate of the civil service, finance and economic activities, which are currently the responsibility of the Ministry of State Administration and Civil Service.
The subordination of the institutions "inhibits them from acting with the necessary transversality, transparency and impartiality," said Impissa, adding that the ongoing consultation will run until 1 September and will also take place in the provinces of Nampula, Sofala and Inhambane.
"These seminars aim to gather contributions, criticisms and suggestions, so that the instruments to be created reflect not only the government's vision, but also the expectations and concerns of the various sectors of society," he added.
On 22 June, President Daniel Chapo announced that the creation of a State Inspector General was underway.
"We are working on the creation of an inspectorate, at the level of the Presidency, where we will have a state inspector general [...]. We have already started to do this work," Daniel Chapo said at the time, at a press conference, including Lusa, in Maputo.
According to Chapo, this is the first time in decades that the government has worked on the issue of this figure, who oversees the internal supervision of the actions of the public administration.
"At the time, in the 1980s, President Samora Machel [...] had a state inspector, at the level of the Presidency of the Republic," he recalled.
The head of state also defended the need for "profound reforms" for a different state and society, with officials and leaders aware that they are, in fact, "employees of the people", and that they are, above all, "there to serve rather than to be served".
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