Good afternoon. Another head of the National Social Security Institute (INSS) is engulfed in scandal. Joaquim Siuta is currently under arrest, accused of involvement in schemes to divert money from the institute, which manages pension funds on behalf of Mozambicans in employed work. At least two other members of staff are also suspected of involvement. The labour ministry has issued a statement promising that the INSS continues to function normally and the pensions system remains solid and stable.
But can a pensions system be solid and stable if the people in charge are looting and mismanaging it? Without prejudicing the current investigation, we already know that the INSS has a corruption problem, and one which extends beyond the behaviour of its current staff. In 2022, for example, the former labour minister Helena Taipo was convicted of corruption offences including receiving bribes from companies in exchange for getting the INSS to invest its funds in their property development projects.
The full Daily Briefing continues below for Pro subscribers. Subscribers to the Zitamar News tier can read the top half, including the full leader article, here.
Dubious investments are something of an INSS speciality. In 2014, MZN84m ($1.3m) was diverted from INSS funds to buy four aircraft from the company CR Aviation, according to prosecutors. The INSS’ then director general, Baptista Machaieie, was jailed for eight years in 2020 over the scandal. But that case is dwarfed by the MZN3.5bn ($55m) which the INSS sank into Nosso Banco, the commercial bank which collapsed in 2016. The INSS owned over 77% of the bank, even after the central bank had found it to be poorly managed and under-capitalised.
