- Accused killers of Siba Siba finally charged
The late 1990s and early 2000s in Mozambique were like a chapter out of a gripping political thriller. The IMF had Mozambique in a tight grip, pushing the government towards privatization with the threat of pulling aid if not done by June 1997. Banco Austral, formerly BPD, was part of the deal. It became a scandalous tango of power, politics, and financial chicanery. Now, after two decades of hush-hush, not all guilty whispers seem ready to call it a day. Source here.
Banco Austral’s story wasn’t exactly a bedtime fairy tale. By the book wasn’t in the book. A bold move two days before the deadline involved President Joaquim Chissano and some Frelimo bigwigs partnering with Malaysia’s Southern Bank Berhad in a feat that swirled entangled webs and complex motives. The bank wasn’t the golden goose, yet folks at the top looted it as if it were. A 2001 audit by KPMG revealed a staggering robbery of $40 million within three years. When the BDM governor decided enough was enough, sending respected economist António Siba-Siba Macuacua to clean up the mess, the stage was set for an inevitable tragedy.
What happened next was an unthinkable twist that left even seasoned cynics astonished. On August 11, 2001, Siba Siba Macuacua was thrown down the stairwell of the bank headquarters. There are still lingering questions about why, but everyone knew something stank worse than a traffic jam on a hot summer’s day in July. As if it were divinely planned revenge for blowing the whistle, the murder was swept under the priority rug until now. Meanwhile, the IMF and other international backers preferred turning blind eyes. Sure, the move to the free market was more important than a man’s life. But recently, there ain’t no burying truth when a storm brews fierce enough.
Fast forward to January 2009, when Mozambique’s Attorney General Office went, “Nah, we aren’t setting fires or ruffling feathers,” issuing a notice to clear 21 suspects linked to Frelimo. Yet, at the very same moment, suspects Benigno da Silva Parente Júnior and the guards involved, José Fogueiro Jaime Passaje and Carlos Vasco Sitoe, were flagged. Mozambique’s justice system lurched into a series of motions with quicksand-like reliability. The case rested awkwardly on the shoulders of judge Paulo Ricardo Cinco Reis, who dismissed it in May 2009. Appeals court? Not so much, until September 12 of this year when the cause of justice woke up feeling fresh.
For two decades, the silence became deafening. But these eerie noises have since been shattered. Defendants may argue they were merely pawns in a larger game directed by bank elites. As Judge Reis had already hinted, the murder related to big Banco Austral debtors, people whose names were to be kept secret. Convenient, right? Reis even pointed fingers at Nyimpine Chissano, infamously linked to the killing of journalist Carlos Cardoso, but Mr. Chissano had already danced out of life’s party with a heart attack in 2007.
With such layers of mystery and shadows, is justice finally shaking off its chains? It’s about time for the world to see who stood behind the curtain. A trial will force truths long buried to see daylight. No more sweeping dirty secrets under the rug. With the Mozambican court ready to wade into these murky waters, let’s just hope whoever orchestrated this fatal dance lives long enough to see the final act unfold.
By Joseph Hanlon
Source: [Mozambique News, Reports and Clippings](https://clubofmozambique.com/news) and other related [sources](https://allafrica.com/stories/200907220073.html).
