ATTEMPTS UNDER WAY TO REMOVE LUIS MONDLANE

The majority of the judges on Mozambique’s Constitutional Council, the highest body in constitutional and electoral law, are seeking a way to remove the Council’s chairperson, Luis Mondlane, reports Friday’s issue of the weekly paper “Savana”.Mondlane has been deeply compromised by revelations in the press of his illegal use of Council funds for his personal expenses – including paying a mortgage on a house that cost 24.3 million meticais (about 784,000 US dollars at today’s exchange rates). Mondlane also unilaterally sacked the general secretary of the Council, Geraldo Saranga, and appointed in his stead Ana Juliana Lucas e Saute – even though she did not have the requisite five years experience as a judge.The other six judges on the Constitutional Council objected to Juliana’s appointment, since the general secretary works, not just for the chairperson, but for the entire Council. Mondlane ignored all the objections and, on 25 February, swore Juliana into office, in a ceremony that was boycotted by all the other judges.According to “Savana”’s sources, President Armando Guebuza, who appointed Mondlane, was angered when he heard about the crisis in the Council. But the President’s problem is that there is no way, under the law, that he can remove Mondlane.The President of the Republic appoints the chairperson of the Council, and the country’s parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, ratifies the appointment. But neither the President nor the Assembly can sack the chairperson during his five year term of office.Guebuza, the paper said, has asked the general secretary of the ruling Frelimo Party, Filipe Paunde, to look into the matter, and Paunde has asked for meetings with both Mondlane, and separately with the other six judges.Judges on the Council are not subject to the normal disciplinary body for the judiciary, the Higher Council of the Judicial Magistracy (CSMJ). Instead the Council must discipline its own members and could, in theory, force Mondlane out.Any Constitutional Council judge can be dismissed or given compulsory retirement in the event of disciplinary or criminal proceedings. This would require the other six judges to launch into an inquiry into Mondlane’s behaviour, which would culminate in a disciplinary hearing.“Savana” also publishes a list of goods and services purchased by Mondlane for himself and his wife in 2010 out of Council funds. These personal expenses amounted to 8.8 million meticais (about 284,000 US dollars). (This list does not include the mortgage payments.)The expenses included over 2.1 million meticais spent on furniture imported from South Africa, and the services used for clearing it through customs. Other furniture and decorations acquired locally cost the council over 3.5 million meticais. Bills for dental services for Mondlane, his wife and daughter at a private dental clinic amounted to over 46,000 meticais, and the Council even paid over 127,000 meticais for an air ticket so that Mondlane’s wife could accompany him to a meeting in Lisbon.