The government official, who spoke to the press at the end of more than five hours of hearing in the National Assembly, behind closed doors, linked the controversy that arose around the issue with "the desire to promote this type of situation".
"We have a perfectly clear conscience, because our actions are carried out with total transparency, rigor and, obviously, a lot of decorum for our role as a public servant," he said.
Ricardo de Abreu said he had clarified the deputies about the contract and its clauses, after the acquisition was announced through a presidential order.
After the order was reported in the press, generating controversy surrounding the unit cost of more than 500 thousand dollars per bus, the Ministry of Transport released a statement explaining that the total value of the investment is also associated with a vehicle assembly factory in province of Bengo.
"Obviously, the temptation will be to exercise the arithmetic of numbers and reach conclusions, many of them hasty", he observed, adding that the content of the contract is not known, as it was not detailed in the presidential order.
"There are several other obligations on the part of the contracted entity, including maintenance, training, training, there are associated costs, even tax and fee expenses", he added.
According to Ricardo de Abreu, the absence of this information "should allow for a slightly more considered attitude by those who hastily made the considerations they made".
The holder of the Angolan Transport portfolio stressed that the publication of the presidential order "is just the beginning of a process that will still be ongoing, within the scope of complying with the law, the most important of which is the approval of the Court of Auditors ".
At this point, continued Ricardo de Abreu, authorization has been made to proceed with the acquisition of 600 buses, following the provisions of the Public Procurement Law until the contract is approved by the Court of Auditors, as well as the financing approval.
Among the voices of protest is that of Angolan activist Rafael Marques, who asked for the annulment of the direct agreement, a fact that Ricardo de Abreu said he was unaware of.
Ricardo de Abreu admitted that "something didn't go well", but stressed that there was some intentionality in creating this controversy.
"It is obvious that, if there is controversy, it is because something did not go well, it is obvious that there also seems to be some intentionality in creating this controversy, because we have other exactly equivalent exercises of publishing value, quantity, doing the arithmetic, therefore , the transparency of the act is not at stake", he stated.
Regarding the direct award, Ricardo de Abreu explained that simplified contracting has obligations throughout the process, both prior and successive, highlighting that "the presidential order contains very concrete information about the entity financing this project".
In turn, the vice-president of the National Assembly's Economy and Finance Committee, João Mpilamosi, said that the deputies were satisfied with the explanations provided by the minister, which they will continue to monitor, "to confirm that the data that was provided in fact corresponds with the truth in its application".
