Yesterday, senior Mahajanga officials were placed in preventive detention at Antanimora prison, following their appearance before judges at the anti-corruption center. Among them, the prefect of Mahajanga and the regional director of Commerce were indicted in connection with a case of misappropriation of 50 containers of spoiled rice, stored in the premises of the former Sotema in the heart of the city’s port.
The first heads are starting to fall after the collapse of the attempt to repackage 50 containers of damaged rice in the port of Mahajanga. At the end of the two-day referral, on January 4 and 5, of this file to the anti-corruption center, the prefect of Mahajanga and the regional director of Commerce in this city were placed under arrest warrant in Antanimora. The affair broke out when images of small local hands repackaging rotten rice circulated on social networks. These cargoes, stored since 2017 and intended to be incinerated for health reasons, were illicitly recycled. A revolting practice which aroused general indignation and sowed fear among the local population in Mahajanga. The first arrests hit the truck drivers who were already prepared to transport the repackaged rice.
Justice Ministry
Faced with the scale of the scandal, the government immediately reacted by dispatching the Minister of Justice, Landy Mbolatiana Randriamanantenasoa, to the site. The minister visited the reconditioning units, set up by the smugglers in the storage warehouse for these damaged cargoes. The courts have been contacted to shed light on this affair which affects senior officials in the region. In addition to the prefect of Mahajanga and the regional director of Commerce, who are already in prison, two other individuals, identified under the names JNDR and RR, are currently being interviewed by the criminal research section in Fiadanana as part of this case. The authorities want to untangle the ins and outs of this network of diversion of spoiled foodstuffs.
Health in danger
According to information leaked on social networks, several senior officials in Mahajanga, elected officials and community leaders, authorized the evacuation of the 50 containers of rice for health reasons. In a letter shared online, senior officials admitted that the rice was unfit for consumption. Despite the warnings and measures announced by these authorities, tons of rice have been illicitly recycled, endangering the health of consumers. The descent of the government emissary therefore sparked rumors of severe administrative measures against certain senior officials in Mahajanga. In any case, this type of affair will not be admissible in the eyes of the executive which has, several times, announced its desire to fight corruption in all its forms.
Union
The case caused the union of civil administrators (Synad) to react, after the court’s decision to put the prefect of Mahajanga, who is a respected civil administrator within his profession, behind bars. In his post on the social network Facebook, the president of the Synad, Paolo Raholinarivo, requests, in fact, that all the signatories of the leaked letter be sanctioned, and also calls for the strict application of the law in force. This trade unionist stressed the need to prosecute all those responsible involved in this scandal of diversion of spoiled food. Regardless, the case continues to shake Mahajanga, highlighting flaws in food management and the need for a rigorous judicial response to prevent such abuses in the future.
Rija R.