In a letter sent to the Ministry of the Interior, to which the Lusa agency had access, BUSF-Internacional communicates the "removal of its functions and exclusion for the sake of discipline".
The statement comes two days after the Angolan authorities declared the United Firefighters Without Borders (BUSF) of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) of Angola illegal, with some of the members being detained, according to an official source.
Speaking to the Lusa agency, the president of BUSF-Internacional and BUSF-Brasil, Bolívar Fundão Filho, accused the person previously responsible for the organization in Angola of having invited "young people in the name of BUSF to be volunteers, but he charged for service, he charged for everything, saying that when they graduated they would start earning a salary".
Bolívar Fundão Filho, who collected statements from several young people, accused Flávio Canhongo of illicit enrichment.
"He never sent a member form," he said, claiming that more than 25,000 young people were deceived.
According to the organization's top manager, Flávio Canhongo charged each young person 30 thousand kwanzas, with this money being allocated to the company he opened, with the same name as the organization.
"He charged a fee for the course, said the person didn't pass the test and pocketed those 30,000 kwanzas. He worked for himself", he denounced.
Bolívar Fundão Filho said he regretted this entire situation, stating that BUSF is an institution made up of volunteers, mainly firefighters, but also engineers, doctors and nurses, who create a team to provide support in disaster situations, being subordinate to government organizations.
Bolívar Fundão Filho also said that Flávio Canhongo, a member of the Angolan fire department, presented a document saying that he had been authorized by the State of Angola "to belong to the institution".
However, this document "did not match what was required, as it was not an express authorization, but simply an internal request document", the statement reads.
This document was presented in 2021, and Flávio Canhongo would now have the role of legalizing BUSF with the competent bodies in the country.
"The name of the BUSF institution was improperly used to set up a private company for its own benefit, which is notoriously prohibited by BUSF-Internacional in its statutes", detailed the organization.
Furthermore, on September 8th, the Association of Peace Firefighters in the Communities was created, "which made use 'ipsis litteris' [in the same terms] of the BUSF-Brazil Statutes, with constant occasional changes (...), thus proving that this institution is not BUSF-Angola but another illegally similar institution in its goals and that it would not, therefore, have the right to use the organization's (...) logos, uniforms and documents", he added.
