The President of São Tomé and Príncipe, Carlos Vila Nova, has paid the 15,000 euro fine imposed by the Constitutional Court (TC) in 2022 for failing to submit campaign accounts for the 2021 presidential election, according to the president of the court.
“There was a fine process affecting previous candidates, and some were misled, as was the case with the President of the Republic, Carlos Vila Nova. However, after becoming directly aware through the new composition of the Constitutional Court, he immediately proceeded with the liquidation,” Artur Vera Cruz told journalists on Thursday.
The head of the Santomean TC, who is part of the new bench of judges sworn in this February, appealed to other candidates to submit their accounts, emphasizing that it is a legal duty that must be fulfilled for the sake of transparency and to set an example for society.
Without revealing the specific payment date, Artur Vera Cruz noted that among the 19 fined candidates, Carlos Vila Nova is the only one who has paid in full, though he revealed that the former President of the National Assembly, Delfim das Neves, has been honoring the fine through monthly payments.
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When questioned about the consequences of non-payment, Vera Cruz disclosed that the TC has received a petition from organized civil society demanding that candidates with pending fines be prohibited from running in elections. “This is a matter that the plenary of the TC—which cannot override the dictates of the law—will evaluate to provide an appropriate response,” he stated.
At the heart of the issue is the 375,000 dobra (15,000 euro) fine imposed in May 2022 on all 19 candidates from the September 2021 presidential elections. This followed an electoral law revision the previous year which, for the first time, made it mandatory to submit accounts within 90 days of the official results proclamation.
The former parliament speaker was the only one to initially agree with the fine, paying a portion at the time. In June 2022, the TC denied a joint request to annul the fine submitted by eight candidates, including the current President Carlos Vila Nova, runner-up Guilherme Posser da Costa, former Prime Minister Maria das Neves, and several others.
By August of that year, the court had referred the case to the Public Prosecutor’s Office for coercive enforcement. While the Public Prosecutor’s Office previously stated the process was following “normal procedures,” no conclusion had been revealed until now.
São Tomé and Príncipe is scheduled to hold presidential elections on July 19 and legislative, local, and regional elections on September 27. So far, jurist Miques João Bonfim—himself among those fined—is the only candidate to have formalized his bid for this year’s race.
