AFRICA COMPUTERS STOLEN FROM CRITICAL SERUM FACTORYallAfrica.com: Mozambique: Thieves Shut Down Factory Producing SerumSeptember 2, 2004
Posted to the web September 2, 2004

Maputo

The only company in Mozambique that produces serum for medical purposes has been forced to halt production because thieves have stolen several of its computers.

The company, "Final Farmaceutica", is owned by Tourism Minister Fernando Sumbana. Cited in Thursday's issue of the Maputo weekly "Zambeze", Sumbana said ruefully "somebody told me I'd gone into the wrong business".


The factory, located in the southern city of Matola, has been beset with problems and has operated for less than nine months. Part of its initial production was offered to Maputo Central Hospital, and part was sold to some private clinics.

Although the thefts have only now come to the notice of the press, they took place in June. According to the factory's director, Zini Neto, "In the first theft, they stole a computer from the director's office. The next week they came back and stole two more computers, one of which was the central computer which controls the entire factory".

Sumbana told "Zambeze" that he had conceived of Final Farmaceutica as a tribute to his mother, who had died after a long illness in what was then the Miguel Bombarda Hospital (today's Maputo Central Hospital).

"This was the way I found to avenge the death of my mother, who was hospitalised for years", said Sumbana. "I did it to prevent other Mozambicans from dying as she died, but I see I've got myself into a difficult business".

"Don't be surprised if one day you find I've gone crazy", he added, "because I don't know what to do now. This happened when we thought the worst was over and we were ready to restart production".

Neto thought this was no ordinary robbery, but deliberate sabotage by people who did not want serum produced in Mozambique.

Prior to the building of Final, every drop of serum used in the country was imported, and this was clearly good business for some people.

Neto noted that the thefts occurred "a few days before we were due to resume production", and that the thieves had been highly selective.

They had ignored an easily accessible room full of computers which, to people who knew nothing about the factory, looked the same as the ones that were stolen.

"They didn't take any of those", said Neto. "Instead they broke down a door to reach the computers they wanted, because they were following instructions from somebody. The computers they didn't steal look identical to the ones they did".

"I think that when they took the first computer, the person who hired them saw that wasn't the one he wanted, and gave correct instructions about the targets, which they only obtained in the second break-in", he added.

Nonetheless, after the second robbery, there were three other attempts to burgle the factory, all of which were frustrated by the security guards. But the guard who was on duty the nights of the successful break-ins, an employee of the private security company Delta, did not show up for work subsequently, and has disappeared from his house.

Neto said that before the thefts, Final had received visits from representatives of Mozambican and foreign companies. None of these visits produced any results, and Neto now suspects that some of them might be related with the thefts.

"The conclusion we reached later is that perhaps they came to study the capacities of the factory, and this might have something to do with the robberies", he said. "Or they came to steal our technology so that they could set up similar factories in their own countries".

Nonetheless, Final is determined to repair the damage and resume production. Neto said it has spent 10,000 US dollars to buy new equipment from South Africa - including the computer programmes required to replace the stolen ones. The company has to request South African technicians to re-install the programmes. The Ministry of Health has expressed an interest in buying Final's serum, but there is as yet no agreement. "We want the Ministry to become our main client", said Neto. "Our factory can produce as much as is requested".

The total installed capacity is 2.5 million litres. Final hopes to resume production this month, starting with 50,000 litres a month, rising to 100,000 litres as from December