Frelimo and LAM: an abusive marriage

Most of the state-owned airline’s problems can be traced back to its unhealthy relationship with Frelimo. It will not thrive until those ties are broken

Good afternoon. Plans by the government to carry out a forensic audit of the accounts of state-owned airline LAM (see below) show a willingness to look like it is taking action to stem years of losses and mismanagement at the airline. And it may possibly lead to some more people being charged with fraud or embezzlement, joining the ranks of people like former transport minister Paulo Zucula, who was convicted of money laundering in 2021 after being accused of taking payments from aircraft manufacturer Embraer as part of a deal to sell aircraft to LAM. In addition, the government intends to cut jobs, having identified serious overstaffing.

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However, the audit, while it may provide harder evidence for wrongdoing, is unlikely to lead to entirely new discoveries about what has been going on at LAM, and as such, it is not likely to lead to major changes to how the airline is run.