The Maputo Provincial Court, sitting in the southern Mozambican city of Matola, on Tuesday sentenced 16 civil servants to prison terms of between three and 21 years for their part in corrupt schemes that resulted in the theft of about 2.8 million meticais (about 79,000 US dollars) of public funds.The man regarded as the mastermind in the theft, Mario Tique, the former head of the expenditure department in the Maputo provincial directorate of planning and finance, received the longest jail term, of 21 years and seven months. His colleague in the same directorate, Ermelinda Barros, received a sentence of 12 years and seven months.Noe Mathe, provincial director of women’s affairs and social welfare at the time of the theft, who later rose to become press officer for the Minister of Women’s Affairs, was jailed for eight years and six months.They and 13 others were found to have acted deliberately to defraud the state. But a further 19 suspects were acquitted.Tique and his accomplices were also ordered to repay the stolen money. The evidence given in the case was so detailed that the judge was able to determine exactly how much each of those found guilty should repay.But the case is far from over, since Tique’s lawyer, Adao Bunja, immediately announced that his client will appeal.
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