Ex-Mozambican finance minister Manuel Chang to be extradited to US

The Constitutional Court of South Africa has refused the Mozambique government leave to appeal against the high court’s decision to extradite its former finance minister Manuel Chang to the United States to face corruption charges. The court's ruling paves the way for Chang's transfer to the US, where he faces corruption charges. This marks the fourth unsuccessful attempt by Mozambique to appeal the Johannesburg High Court's previous decision to extradite Chang to the US.

Chang has been imprisoned in South Africa for over four years. He is accused of involvement in a fraudulent scheme to borrow $2 billion for the purchase of tuna fishing boats and patrol vessels in 2013 and 2014. The US alleges that American citizens were defrauded as a result of Chang's actions. Despite initially appealing the extradition, Chang later expressed his willingness to be extradited to either Mozambique or the US, as long as progress was made in the extradition process.

The Constitutional Court's decision indicates that both Mozambique and Chang have exhausted their legal options to avoid extradition to the US. The court ruled that there were no reasonable prospects for success in the appeal and refused leave to appeal with costs.

Fórum de Monitoria do Orçamento (FMO), a Mozambican group, which argued against the Mozambique government's appeal claimed that the Mozambican government had no genuine intention to prosecute Chang and that his testimony in a US court would reveal the truth about the misappropriated funds.

The extradition case has raised concerns about corruption and accountability, with Chang being accused of high-level corruption and abuse of power. The FMO's legal team emphasized the need for accountability and referred to corruption as a pervasive problem on the African continent.

Manuel Chang was arrested in December 2018 at OR Tambo International Airport in South Africa, following a request from the US. Both the US and Mozambique subsequently filed extradition applications, but Mozambique's failure to charge Chang for several years after the alleged offenses raised suspicions about its commitment to prosecuting him.

The FMO’s legal team was led by Max du Plessis SC, associate member of Doughty Street.