Maputo, Oct. 13, 2025 (Lusa) - Mozambican President Daniel Chapo warned on Monday that the country's "commitment" to fighting "the martyrdom" of corruption "is unequivocal" and that it is necessary to end the "feeling of impunity that reigns" in society and in the public administration.
"Corruption is a phenomenon that destroys citizens' trust in institutions, undermines the social fabric, diverts resources that should serve the people, weakens the economy, jeopardises development and widens social inequalities," said Chapo at the opening of the National Conference on Combating Corruption.
The event takes place over two days in Maputo and is organised by the Attorney General's Office to identify problems in the fight against corruption.
Chapo pointed out that, "in addition to the government's five-year programme" until 2029, the strategy to prevent and combat corruption in public administration was approved, an "essential instrument in the prevention and fight against corruption", which is based on three pillars, such as prevention, repression and cooperation.
In terms of prevention, the head of state pointed to the "need to cultivate an attitude of integrity" in all sectors, which "means educating society in general and young people in particular to the values of ethics, fairness and integrity".
According to Chapo, it is necessary to ensure "that these principles are present in both the public administration and the private sector, through training actions for civil servants and economic agents, orientated towards transparent management, valuing merit and accountability in the exercise of functions," he said, lamenting that there are civil servants who "do everything they can to be affected in some sectors", such as Finance or Property, in order to "obtain advantages through acts of corruption".
In other words, he said, working in a place where "there is no let up (...) it is not worth it".
In terms of repression, he said that the "commitment is unequivocal" and that "those who commit acts of corruption will be duly held accountable", noting that "there is a feeling of impunity that reigns" in society, contributing to its "normalisation".
"We must continue to strengthen the supervisory, investigative and justice institutions, providing them with autonomy, qualified human resources, modern technological and material resources, and financial resources so that they can carry out their work responsibly, independently and with integrity," said Chapo.
From this perspective, he insisted, the government is "implementing structural reforms at public administration level, aimed at strengthening control, auditing and accountability mechanisms", exemplified by the planned creation of the General State Inspectorate, the General Inspectorate for Food and Economic Security and the Central Procurement Centre.
On the pillar of cooperation, he stressed that the fight against corruption "cannot be conducted in isolation" and that it was therefore "essential to promote effective interaction between state bodies, civil society, the private sector, the international community and, above all, the active participation of every citizen".
The event in Maputo brings together experts from various areas linked to the prevention and fight against corruption, as well as from Mozambique, Portugal, Brazil and Botswana, among others, with the head of state asking for contributions "for concrete actions" in the "search for solutions" to the "problem of corruption, which is an authentic martyrdom" for the country.
"We want a state that operates transparently, that accounts responsibly, that puts the citizen at the centre of its decisions and that uses every metical of the public purse responsibly and rigorously," he added, stressing, however, that the fight against corruption "is not only won by passing laws, plans, strategies or creating institutions".
"We must do more, because we have no doubt that we are facing an evil whose prevention and fight requires the involvement of all of us," he concluded.
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