Salomao served in the governments headed by former President Joaquim Chissano in the 1990s, first as Finance Minister and later as Transport Minister when he received part of the credit for stabilising the Mozambican economy in that period.
Salomao later served for ten years as Executive Secretary of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and he is currently chairperson of Standard Bank-Mozambique and a senior member of the political commission of the ruling Frelimo party.
The official was quoted in the local media as stressing that a Finance minister is “the State’s treasurer”, and so his behaviour should be beyond reproach.
“In his capacity as public treasurer, this minister is absolutely prohibited, I repeat, absolutely prohibited from using any asset belonging to the public treasury for his personal benefit. That’s absolutely forbidden”, Salomoa said in apparent reference to Chang.
Currently, Manuel Chang is in police custody in Johannesburg where he was arrested at Oliver R Tambo International Airport while on transit to Dubai on 29 December, on the basis of an international arrest warrant from the United States.
The US authorities want Chang to be extradited to New York, where he faces charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering, wire fraud and securities fraud.
Salomao thought it important that Chang should stand trial for his alleged crimes.
“Mr Chang will be tried. I’m not worried about where this trial will take place – whether in Mozambique, in South Africa, in the United States, or at The Hague; he will be tried somewhere.
“And it’s good that he be put on trial, so that this serves as an example and as a reference point, so that this sort of thing is not repeated. Those who dare to act like this should be punished in an exemplary way”, Salomao told state-controlled Radio Mozambique on Wednesday.
Salomao added that what was most important was that the institutions of the administration of justice should work to ensure that stolen money should return to Mozambique.
“The international administration of justice, be it American, African, or of countries with which Mozambique cooperates or even Mozambican, the institutions must help Mozambique recover the dilapidated assets from the public treasury. These assets, amid the difficulties we face, tomorrow, they can be used for programmes for the benefit of the Mozambican people,” Salomao added.
If Chang is extradited to the United States, analysts say the case against him could unearth details about Mozambique’s debt scandal, with potential implications for senior members of the ruling party ahead of elections in October.
Mozambique’s acknowledgement in 2016 of the undisclosed borrowing prompted the International Monetary Fund and foreign donors to cut off support, triggering a currency collapse and a debt crisis that Mozambique is still struggling to recover from.