Cape Verde Prime Minister Orders Independent Review of National Statistics Institute

Prime Minister Francisco Carvalho announced an independent evaluation of Cape Verde's National Institute of Statistics (INE) to investigate alleged interference and manipulation of data after accusing the institute of producing falsified reports. He said restoring public confidence in official statistics is urgent, emphasizing that public data belong to citizens, not the government, and that statistics must accurately reflect people's lives even when uncomfortable.

Carvalho also pledged to publish regular public reports, enforce the access‑to‑information law, create a national portal for public documents and implement an open‑data policy. INE council president João Cardoso rejected the manipulation claims, stating that the institute has activated legal mechanisms to trace the source of anonymous accusations that circulated online and reaffirmed the institute’s autonomy.