15 years ago, a group of young dreamers decided to make their knowledge an instrument to promote integrity, justice, transparency and the fight against corruption. Their unwavering conviction to participate in the construction of a free and democratic country motivated them to create the Center for Public Integrity (CIP), a Mozambican civil society organization.
Mozambique, as an independent country, was born on the rainy night of June 25, 1975. Its history, over time, has been characterized by wars that have created a blemish difficult to erase in society. For a long time, a single party state characterized the political sphere of the country, a situation that has caused all kinds of violations of the precepts of freedom and democracy.
It was necessary to look at the advances that were taking place around the world: the end of the eastern bloc, the establishment of democracy as the most advanced form of the political organization of States; respect for freedoms (of the press and expression), equal rights, among others, to rethink the country. This was one of the foundations for the creation of the CIP.
There are those who are concerned and see the CIP as an organization obsessed with seeing corruption in all government action. However, it should be noted that despite the expressive presence in national daily life and the social, economic and political importance of the topic, what is called corruption in Mozambique, before the emergence of the CIP, had not received attention from the social scientists who produce about of the theme in the country. Experience has shown that the international organizations that financially support the Government of Mozambique have had CIP as their closest and reliable source to understand the intricacies of corruption in Mozambique.
A rapid diagnosis of production in social sciences in Mozambique shows us, immediately, that the issue of corruption does not appear as one of the objects of legitimate analysis in the hierarchy of issues and problems historically privileged by this field of knowledge. Today, when the phenomenon of corruption is talked about or debated in Mozambique, the CIP is an unavoidable player, as it is at the center of this debate, having produced the largest number of researches on the phenomenon of corruption, in Mozambique.
Far from playing the role of the opposition, as some people have proclaimed, the CIP, has revealed itself through its work of excellence and ability to analyze and expose the structural problems that the country presents, doing free consultancy work for the Mozambican government.
15 years after its creation, relevant players in the country’s political economy – such as the Assembly of the Republic, ministries and public institutes, the private sector – gradually begin to change their understanding of the work of this organization and begin to have it as an important partner, whose accumulated knowledge can be used to positively influence processes, procedures, proposals for laws and even public policies.
