Mozambique has suffered an embezzlement of more than 725 million meticais over seven years, a sum intended to pay salaries to more than 3,200 non-existent workers, according to an official source.
This case came to light after a statement by Biza Novela, director of planning and cooperation at the Ministry of State Administration and Public Service, which was broadcast by Rádio Moçambique.
According to Novela, during the period under review, between the first and second year, it was possible to identify numbers of employees who had not completed the proof-of-life check in various sectors. During the inspection, 3,240 fictitious workers were discovered, known as ghost employees, most of them detected in the areas of education, health, defence and security.
The situation became more alarming when, on being questioned about these workers who had not completed the proof-of-life check, the heads of the respective sectors were often unable to identify who these employees were. While this confusion lasted, large sums of money were withdrawn every month to cover the salaries of these non-existent individuals.
Since 2015, the Mozambican Government has been implementing an electronic system for verifying the proof of life of all State employees. This measure was taken with the aim of eliminating the payment of salaries to fictitious employees, a problem that, as can be seen, has been persistent and costly for the country.
This situation is particularly worrying for Mozambique, a country that is working hard to improve its economy and the living conditions of its population. The discovery of this fraudulent scheme places even greater emphasis on the need to strengthen internal controls and to increase transparency and accountability in the use of public funds.
