Mozambican contractors today accused the World Bank of enabling ongoing poor construction work in the country after withholding for two years the results of an investigation into a Chinese construction firm awarded public works contracts in Mozambique.
“The prolonged silence, combined with the refusal to share information, creates the public perception that the Integrity Vice Presidency (INT) — the World Bank Group’s independent investigative arm — is protecting bad practices and bad actors, rather than promoting transparency and accountability,” said the president of the Mozambican Contractors Federation (FME), Bento Machaila, at a press conference in Maputo.
At issue is a complaint submitted by the federation to the Central Anti-Corruption Office (GCCC), an entity of the Attorney General’s Office, against the award of a contract to a Chinese construction firm, alleging irregularities in the 2024 tender for construction works in the municipality of Matola in the south of the country.
The works are financed by the World Bank at a value of $250 million (€230 million), under the Maputo metropolitan area urban mobility project overseen by the Ministry of Transport and Communications, and were suspended by the GCCC due to irregularities — two years into the investigation with no result.
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In January 2024, the contractors asked the government to ban the Chinese firm from carrying out state construction works and called for disciplinary proceedings to be initiated through the Construction Contractor and Consultant Licensing Commission at the Ministry of Public Works.
According to Machaila, the GCCC supported the suspension of the tender at the time and launched investigations coordinated with the World Bank’s INT — but two years on, both institutions remain silent, refusing to share the results with third parties.
“It is with vehement repudiation that the FME receives this response. The FME is not a third party in this process. The FME is the complainant. It was based on information we provided and the trust placed in the World Bank’s supervisory capacity that the process began,” Machaila said, calling the situation “unacceptable on several grounds and disrespectful to the complainant.”
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For the FME, the INT’s refusal to share results “breaks a basic principle of institutional good faith and discourages any citizen or organisation from cooperating in the future — the message conveyed is that reporting serves no purpose.” Machaila called for public disclosure of results by both institutions, arguing that concealing information only benefits corruption and poor governance.
He also called on the Attorney General’s Office to ensure the process reaches “a just conclusion” and that those responsible are held accountable.
The federation noted that in the face of INT’s silence, the population of greater Maputo continues to face the visible consequences of poor-quality works daily — with rains frequently cutting roads and disrupting traffic.
