Mozambican police confiscate T-shirts of NGO campaign

MAPUTO, JAN 22 — The Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM) on Monday confiscated T-shirts given out by the non-governmental organization Center for Public Integrity (CPI) with the slogan “I do not pay”, which were used for a civil society campaign against the payment of the so-called hidden debts.
CPI then called the press to speak out about the confiscation which took place in Maputo. However, no one was arrested because of the campaign.
“This campaign aims to put pressure over the right institutions to take the right decision, which is to illegalize those debts and free the Mozambican state of the burden,” said Fatima Mimbirre, a researcher and activist from CPI.
According to CPI, this is an opportunity to “say enough” and Mozambicans shall raise their voices against paying the debts of 2 billion U.S. dollars plus 700 million dollars of interest.
“We are not charging innocent people, we’re fighting for the right cause and it’s fair,” she said, adding that more T-shirts are being printed and they are encouraging other organizations to join the campaign.
PRM hasn’t reacted to the statement.
The campaign came at a time when former finance minister Manuel Chang was detained in South Africa in late December, following an extradition request by the U.S. authorities for an alleged involvement in financial crimes.
Chang is accused of receiving bribes and kickbacks and endorsing the secret loans for three public companies between 2013 and 2014. The discovery of these “hidden debts” has led Mozambique to lose direct support from major international partners, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. – XINHUA