Mozambique’s Minister of Agriculture, Roberto Albino, is facing charges of illegal logging and a separate investigation into a contentious public contract, according to a statement from the prominent anticorruption non-governmental organization Centre for Public Integrity (CIP). The accusations mark the latest in a series of legal challenges for the minister.
The Chemba District Attorney’s Office in the central province of Sofala has accused Albino of illegally instructing the company Ecofarm to log 18 cubic meters of timber from a 50-hectare plot within his 500-hectare concession. The agreement is considered an environmental crime because neither party held a logging license, according to a statement cited by the CIP.
As a result of the alleged infraction, the National Agency for Environmental Quality Control (AQUA) has fined Ecofarm 1.2 million meticais (approximately $18,800). The company is contesting the fine, arguing that the responsibility rests with the minister as the concession owner. Albino, Ecofarm, and other defendants are facing charges of illegal extraction of forest resources, a crime punishable by up to 16 years in prison.
The controversy gained renewed attention in July 2024. However, a July 4 ruling from the District Prosecutor’s Office noted its inability to interrogate Albino, stating that calls to his known contacts were answered by third parties who denied knowing him. Just one week before the trial was scheduled to begin on July 29, the minister reportedly dismissed Ermelinda Maquenze, the head of the Sofala Provincial Environmental Services, the body that initiated the criminal proceedings. The CIP has expressed suspicions that the dismissal was a retaliatory move aimed at undermining the impartiality of the legal process.
These charges follow an earlier setback for the minister. The Administrative Tribunal (AT), which oversees the legality of public spending in Mozambique, previously refused to approve a contract valued at 130 million meticais (about $2 million). The contract had been signed between the country’s Cotton and Oilseeds Institute (IAOM) and Future Technologies of Mozambique, a company reportedly linked to Albino.
