In this publication, João Lourenço stated that he has been following "with great concern" the "occurrences" involving the name of Exalgina Gambôa, stressing that they are "likely to compromise the normal functioning of this important body of the judiciary and tarnish the good name of the Angolan Justice ".
Therefore, he considered that "the Veneranda Judge Counselor President of the Court of Auditors is no longer able to exercise her functions and invited her on the 21st of February to resign her mandate, which has not happened to date ".
The President mentioned in the same publication that the Constitution establishes the separation of powers and interdependence of functions, thus justifying that it cannot be the head of the executive himself who dismisses Exalgina Gambôa, who appointed president of the TdC on 20 June 2018.
And he highlighted that the relevant occurrences regarding the functioning of the Court of Auditors, the supreme body for overseeing the legality of public finances, can “compromise the normal functioning of this important body of the judiciary and tarnish the good name of the Angolan Justice”, although he did not indicate which ones. .
The name of Exalgina Gambôa has been involved in several scandals reported by the Maka Angola website, run by journalist and activist Rafael Marques de Morais.
In October last year, Rafael Marques asked the court to initiate proceedings against the president of the TdC to investigate suspicious expenses, worth millions of dollars, acts disclosed a few months earlier by “Maka Angola”.
At the time, Rafael Marques de Morais revealed that the judge's expenses, borne by the public purse through the Private Coffer of the Court of Auditors, would amount to around US$4 million and were aimed at equipping the residence, with furniture purchased from two companies.
João Lourenço now invokes his status as Head of State, the constitutional body responsible for “promoting and guaranteeing the regular functioning of State bodies” to express his “concern” in the face of the occurrences and “makes public that, in defense of the highest interests of the State, after rigorous consideration”, considered that the presiding judge of the TdC “was no longer able to carry out her duties” having been invited to resign from her mandate on February 21, without her resignation having been presented.
In his complaints, Rafael Marques de Morais claimed to be in possession of documents proving that the judge, in addition to spending on furniture and rehabilitation of a house in a “luxurious” condominium that was delivered to him for the first time and which were higher than the value of the property he acquired, also a residence for his deputy, worth $437,000.
He also points to a “mystery”, alluding to the payment of 526 million kwanzas for the “apparent acquisition of nothing”, money that came out of the Private Vault for the Nova Vida Urbanization.
This project, added in a letter addressed to the Attorney General of the Republic, belongs to the company Imogestin, whose president is the ex-husband of Exalgina Gambôa, Rui Cruz.
The activist considered it “absurd to squander funds” that should be returned to the TdC Coffer “especially in an atrocious time like this” when many citizens “are seen every day rummaging through the garbage to feed themselves”.
“This is an unacceptable situation, absolutely immoral”, reinforced Rafael Marques de Morais, calling for action “immediately to put an end to all misuse of public funds” and to establish “due legal process with a view to investigating of the facts that seem suspicious”.
In another letter, addressed to the president of the National Assembly, the journalist also draws the attention of Carolina Cerqueira and the deputies to the situation, in the sense that parliament exercises its role as supervisor of the activity of the Court of Auditors, “in order to urgent resolution and administrative, political and criminal accountability”.
Exalgina Gambôa was also the subject of other news, initially published by Africa Monitor and later by Correio Angolense, which involved the freezing of accounts of her son in Portugal, supposedly constituted with amounts from the account of the Court of Auditors domiciled at the Yetu bank. .
