SISE points to Guebuza & Nyusi

Gregorio Leao, director-general of the security services (Servico de Informacao e Seguranca do Estado, SISE), told the parliamentary commission investigating the secret debt that "there was an inter-ministerial commission" overseeing the project funded by the $2 bn secret loans. The commission included the defence forces (FDS), SISE, and the ministries of Defence, Interior, Fishing and Transport & Communications. "At the time, some meetings were led by the Commander-in-Chief (Armando Emilio Guebuza)," he added. (@Verdade, 18 Dec)

Guebuza, in turn, put the stress on Nyusi as Defence Minister. In his evidence to the parliamentary commission, former president Guebuza stressed that the whole rationale behind the secret debt was military. Proindicus was the first of the three state-owned companies to be created on 8 January 2013 and it received a $622 million loan from Credit Suisse in February of that year. Guebuza told the commission: "Proindicus is a company of the Defence and Security Forces (FDS), whose main objective is the protection of the Exclusive Economic Zone of Mozambique," as part of its responsibility to protect national sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of frontiers.

Proindicus is half owned by Monte Binga and half by GIPS. Monte Binga is a Ministry of Defence company and its board is largely military men. GIPS (Gestao de Investimentos, Participacoes e Servicos) is owned by the security services (through Servicos Sociais do SISE). The chair of Proindicus is Antonio Carlos do Rosario of SISE.

do Rosario told the commission: "Initially we wanted $ 2 billion, up to $ 2.5-3 billion. If we could have obtained everything under Proindicus, we would not have had to go into other activities such as fishing. … For us Proindicus would have done everything, even yards and maintenance centres, because it was all closed and part of the defence services (FDS)". The other two companies were created only when Credit Suisse could not provide enough money for Proindicus.

Manuel Chang stressed that the loan was to the private companies, not to the government.

In MOZAMBIQUE 354
 News reports & clippings - 11 January 2017