South Africa’s Vodacom got into bed with politically well-connected partners in Mozambique before it won a licence to operate that country’s second cellphone network. Now one of those partners has been dragged into the controversy surrounding the assassination of journalist Carlos Cardoso.
Vodacom this week said it had nothing to do with the selection of individuals in Emotel, the consortium whose membership reads like a who’s who of Maputo society and which holds a 2% stake in Vodacom Mozambique. That notwithstanding, the stigma now attaching to Apolinario Pateguana, an Emotel member, comes as a reminder that political capital trades in a volatile market.
Vodacom Mozambique won the licence from that country’s telecoms regulator in June, beating three competitors. Vodacom said in a statement at the time that Emotel consisted of “local businesspeople, public figures and the war veterans’ association”. This week Vodacom corporate affairs head Joan Joffe referred to Emotel’s members as “a broad spectrum of Mozambican business, political persuasion and prominent organisations”.
That broad spectrum leans heavily towards Frelimo, the ruling party. Emotel is led by Hermenegildo Gamito, a high-profile Frelimo parliamentarian. The war veterans’ association referred to by Vodacom is a Frelimo party body. Bruno Morgado, another Emotel member, is the son of Commerce and Industry Minister Carlos Morgado, a close associate of President Joaquim Chissano.
But what may prove most controversial is the presence in Emotel of Pateguana. In addition to being the son of a former provincial governor (who is reportedly also a close friend of Chissano), Pateguana is the business partner of Chissano’s sons, Nyimpine and N’naite.
Among the businesses that Pateguana and the two Chissano sons share is the company Expresso Tours which, according to some evidence, although contested provided cheques that would have paid for the assassination two years ago of investigative journalist Cardoso.
Six men are now on trial in Maputo for Cardoso’s murder. Although Nyimpine Chissano is not one of the accused, he is under investigation. More than one witness has claimed he ordered the assassination or provided about R500 000 in Expresso Tours cheques to pay the hit men. One witness went as far as claiming that the assassination was discussed at a meeting attended by, among others, Nyimpine Chissano, Pateguana and Maria Candida Cossa, another business associate of theirs.
Nyimpine Chissano, Pateguana and Cossa have testified in the trial, the latter two last Friday. They have strenuously denied any involvement in the murder, saying Nyimpine Chissano’s cheques were guarantees for unrelated loans. The Mozambican media have reported that their versions did not quite match up.
Vodacom’s Joffe this week commented: “The Emotel consortium, which owns 2% of Vodacom Mozambique, was put together by Dr Gamito, a prominent and well-respected Mozambican businessman. The consortium comprises several companies, with a large number of individuals being represented directly and indirectly by each company.
“It would not have been feasible or appropriate for Vodacom to have conducted a due diligence on each individual making up the Emotel consortium, and it is ridiculous to imply that Vodacom should have made a judgement as to whether or not one of those numerous individuals might at some time in the future be implicated in an event that had not yet happened.”
Related:
The plot thickens at Cardoso trial 13 December 2002
Web tightens around Chissano’s son 29 November 2002