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Mozambique’s former Finance Minister, Manuel Chang, is about to face costs within the US over his function in a $2 billion so-called “tuna bond” scandal, after South Africa’s prime court docket dismissed an enchantment by his house nation for him to be tried there. It marks the tip of a long-running litigation that challenged successive choices by South Africa to extradite Mr Chang to Mozambique. Chang has been detained in a South African jail since his arrest in 2018. The Govt Director of the Helen Suzman Basis, Nicole Fritz advised BizNews that it was a big second in civil society’s effort to fight corruption in Southern Africa. – Linda van Tilburg
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Extracts from the interview
All authorized avenues for Manuel Chang have been exhausted
That’s the implications of the Constitutional Court docket ruling yesterday, which is dismissing the federal government of Mozambique’s software to enchantment the Excessive Court docket choice, which dominated that he have to be extradited to the USA. So, now all authorized avenues have been exhausted. There are not any additional mechanisms, avenues by way of which the federal government of Mozambique can search to impugn the choice of the Excessive Court docket, and it stands as remaining and its order stands as remaining, which is that Mr. Chang should now be extradited to the USA to face trial.
Learn extra: SAA whistleblower Cynthia Stimpel exposes excessive sacrifices, challenges confronted by truth-tellers
$2 billion for fishing boats however by no means caught a lot tuna
Mr. Chang, as a former finance minister of Mozambique, is alleged to have been social gathering to defrauding, siphoning off hundreds of thousands of US {dollars} in respect of a growth mortgage to the overall of two billion USD that was supposed to go in the direction of reforming their fleets. Shopping for tuna, or shopping for delivery vessels really was supposed to permit for growth and progress for small fishermen and the fishing trade in Mozambique. As an alternative, these monies had been siphoned off into the pockets of assorted Mozambican officers.
Learn extra: Secretary-Common Mbalula dodges accountability as SA’s issues proceed to pile up – Ivo Vegter
Lengthy battle by civil society in SA and Mozambique
Actual tribute have to be paid to Mozambican civil society who’ve fought lengthy and onerous, and so they have led within the efforts to make sure that Mr. Chang be returned, to be extradited to the USA reasonably than be extradited to Mozambique. South Africa confronted competing extradition requests however the Mozambican civil society teams have been adamant that to extradite him to Mozambique would primarily imply that he could be assured impunity. There was little prospect of him dealing with trial, no accountability for him, no accounting for his wrongdoing. The Helen Suzman Basis sought to intervene as an act of solidarity with civil society groupings in Mozambique. We imagine that it is necessary not solely to attempt to thwart corruption right here in South Africa, however within the wider area. Actually on this case, provided that Mr. Chang was arrested right here in South Africa on an Interpol discover, it shouldn’t be that our officers are complicit in guaranteeing that he doesn’t must face accountability for his alleged wrongdoing, for his alleged corrupt actions.
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