In a press conference in Luanda, where he addressed several economic and social issues, Adalberto da Costa Júnior lamented the preference given to direct adjustments over public tenders, questioning "what is the fear of applying full competition, the true bulwark of democracy.
For UNITA's leader, there is a contradiction between the anti-corruption speeches of the President of the Republic, João Lourenço, and the lack of efficiency and control in public procurement, which led to 107 of the 135 procedures opened between January 2018 and August 1, 2020 being by direct adjustment (simplified procurement), estimating that works worth a total of US$2.5 billion were awarded.
Adalberto da Costa Júnior compared the arguments of the former president, José Eduardo dos Santos, to defend the contracts without competition, now rendered null and void, with those currently used by João Lourenço to authorize the termination of contracts signed during his predecessor's mandate.
The remaining 28 procedures were carried out by invitation, prior qualification or contest, according to the numbers counted by UNITA through the documents published in the Diário da República.
Among the main beneficiaries of the direct agreement are the construction companies Omatapalo, which will have signed contracts worth US$650 million, then the Manuel Couto Alves group, and finally Mota-Engil Angola, according to UNITA's survey.
Adalberto da Costa also criticized the 24 contracts with which Globaltec, a Spanish law firm "strongly suspected of corruption" in Spain, was "awarded" in 2106 for "lack of technical and financial capacity" in the process of liberalization in the telecommunications sector.
At stake are the "mysterious license" of Angola Telecom, which has been sub-conceded to third parties and is "shrouded in secrecy," and the fourth license, granted through a public tender in a "tangle" that has made the process "tainted and cloudy" and has removed competitors with international experience for evidence of fraud, he said.
Criticism from the leader of the main opposition party also addressed the business of the houses in Calumbo, purchased to build a treatment center for covid-19 for 25 million dollars, a figure he said was "overcharged" and Sonangol's purchases of oil derivatives, which "are not made with transparency".
