By Riches Soberekon
South Africa is expected to hand over former Mozambican Finance Minister Manuel Chang to the FBI to face fraud and corruption charges in the United States.
Chang has been in a South African jail since December 2018, when he was arrested at the request of the United States. He is accused of participating in a $2 billion fraud and corruption scheme that involved the Mozambique government and several international banks.
The money was allegedly used to finance a number of projects, including a tuna factory that never materialized. Chang has denied any wrongdoing.
The extradition of Chang is a boost for anti-corruption activists in Mozambique, who have been calling for Chang to be brought to justice.
“We want him to go to the US because it is where we believe justice is going to be served,” said Adriano Nuvunga, an anti-corruption activist from Mozambique.
Although Chang has denied any wrongdoing, Adriano Nuvunga, weighs in.
“We want him to go to the US because it is where we believe justice is going to be served. These crimes destroyed the prosperity of Mozambique, but it was committed using the international financial architecture. Since day one, we believed in SA’s judicial system. We believed that he would be extradited to America. He is our fellow citizen, but we want him to speak the truth so that we can deal with this problem of corruption.”
