Trouble in Mozambique

[mposthumus]

[Amoli]

Some of our family boarded a plane and moved back to S.A. yesterday, although the other brother and his family decided to stay...

[Richprins]

Kidnapping is all the rage in Maputo too...mostly rich businessmen or their families. Lots of affluent families now fled to Nelspruit etc.
In the local paper almost every edition...

[Sprocky]

2013-10-31 07:55

Chimoio - Mozambique's president insisted on Wednesday that violent clashes with armed rebels did not spell a slide back to brutal civil war, stressing the energy-rich nation remains a safe bet for investors.

"I do not think, and that is a strong 'no'... that we are going back to war," Armando Guebuza told AFP in an exclusive interview, amid the worst political violence the country has seen since its brutal 16-year civil war ended in 1992.

"Mozambique is not in a situation of instability," said Guebuza.

The civil war pitted Guebuza's Frelimo liberation movement against anti-Communist Renamo rebels. It led to the deaths of an estimated one million people and made Mozambique a byword for internecine bloodshed.

Since then the country has boomed, amid a coal and gas bonanza and as the warring factions shifted their battle to the ballot box.

But as Renamo's power has waned its leader Afonso Dhlakama retreated to the bush, vowing reprisals if the country's economic windfall is not shared.

A series of tit-for-tat attacks between his supporters and the government led the military to launch a sustained assault on his bases beginning on 21 October.

Since then Renamo has declared a two-decade peace deal null and void and gunmen have launched attacks on the country's main highway.

Afraid of elections

But Guebuza, 70, said the clashes were restricted to one area and were short-term.

"I don't think there is a problem in the medium and long term and we are doing our best to stop it as soon as possible," he said, speaking in the central-western town Chimoio.

"Things that are happening are localised, and we know where it is happening."

Guebuza personally blamed his old civil war rival Dhlakama for the simmering conflict that has rocked the centre of the country.

"Apparently he sees himself as a loser and uses whatever remains of his forces to try to prove that he can impose on the government his own decisions," Guebuza said.

"That doesn't make sense because there is no problem of legitimacy on the present government. We have a vast majority," said Guebuza.

Dhlakama did not want to battle the ruling party at polls, Guebuza added, after Renamo refused to register for an upcoming local vote on November 20.

"So he is afraid of elections, in fact."

Dhlakama fled when his base in the central Gorongosa mountains fell on 21 October. His whereabouts are unknown.

"He decided. He attacked. He shot at the soldiers. The soldiers had to respond," said Guebuza.

He insisted that peace talks were the only way out of the crisis.

Dialogue

"The solution is dialogue. It is not a military solution."

"I want to encourage him to be part of the solution of the situation, not the problem, as he looks like being today."

Guebuza said authorities had taken steps to secure a key railway used to export coal through the central port of Beira.

"The government has taken all steps in order to protect those infrastructures," he said, though he cautioned there was "no government that can defend every spot".

Still "there are many people that are investing even today as the situation continues", he added.

Already a successful businessman before taking office, he denied his family had used their political power for self-enrichment.

All four of his children are involved in lucrative businesses, and his daughter Valentina is an especially influential entrepreneur.

"It is not correct... that I am using the resources of the state for my own benefit," said Guebuza.

"I am working at this moment for the country. Whatever I had in business... I gave away responsibility of managing them to other persons, in this case to my daughter and my children."

Economy

"I don't think that we should legally say that children of presidents are not allowed to have business. That would mean that you are saying that African leadership should not encourage people to develop and create wealth."

After serving two terms over 10 years, Guebuza said he would step down before elections next year, but was coy over who his successor might be.

"That's my secret," he said jokingly.

Frelimo has decided to focus on upcoming local elections before next year's national polls, he said.

"After that we will all have somebody and we can all concentrate on that, to support that person."

International Monetary Fund representative Doris Ross said on Wednesday Mozambique's economy remained "buoyant and recovered quickly" from severe floods in early 2013.

"Growth is projected to reach 7% this year and to accelerate to 8.3% in 2014, supported by high levels of activity in extractive industries, financial services, transport and communications," she added.

End-year inflation is likely to remain below the central bank's medium-term target of

5-6 percent, she said.

The IMF expects the country "to remain one of the most dynamic economies in Sub-Saharan Africa, in part thanks to the expected natural resource boom".

- AFP

[Richprins]

Thousands take to the streets of Mozambique
Protesters on the streets of Maputo



Thousands of protesters gathered in Maputo to show their outrage at the latest kidnappping and death of a 13 year-old boy

31 October 2013 | Tereasa Ferrari

MOZAMBIQUE - Reports on yesterday's march in Maputo are conflicting and although some claim that approximately 25 000 people took to the streets, no official figures were availabe.

Religious leaders and civil society groups organised the protest to demand an end to the abductions. Traffic was jammed as the streets of the city filled with people of all races and ages, who marched peacefully to the city centre. Lowvelder spoke to a protester, Ms Saffiyah Abdul, who said the people had been shocked and outraged at the latest report about the 13 year-old boy being kidnapped and then tortured to death because his parents could not pay the ransom.

"We are just so fed up that the government is not doing anything about this and the abductions are escalating.

This is spreading across all races and now they are targeting everyone, not only the rich."

Abdul said that schools in the country now had armed guards watching over the pupils. She said people were leaving the country in huge numbers as they feared for the safety of their family members. "Nobody feels safe to go anywhere without an armed guard. However, people leaving the country, is not the solution."

Mozambican Human Rights League head, Ms Alice Mabota, said the government had failed to tackle crime such as kidnapping and drug dealing. "If I were the interior minister, I would resign and get rid of the whole ministry, starting with the general police command," she said. "The problem of drugs, weapons, kidnapping - all these are serious issues."

Interior minister Mr Alberto Mondlane said he was confident that all police criminals would be found and prosecuted. "One measure we are taking is to provide the police force working in this area with technical skills to investigate, find the suspects and gather material evidence to back the criminal process," he said.



http://www.looklocal.co.za/looklocal/co ... Mozambique

[Sprocky]

2013-11-07 08:36

Trish Beaver and Niyanta Singh

Pietermaritzburg - A KwaZulu-Natal man on a fishing trip to Mozambique had to flee for his life from Renamo rebels.

Boyce Kluckow (36) of Nottingham Road and his friend Steve Adams (37) had to abandon their boats, cars, fishing and camping equipment to avoid confrontation with the rebel soldiers last week.

Kluckow and Adams, previously of Howick and now living in the UK, were to have ended their two-week trip at Nkala, a seaside town in Mozambique, when they got word of the insurgency.

They first attempted to exit south to Tete province with a military convoy, but were told by locals that the military convoy had been attacked twice in the last few days. They then attempted to leave through the Malawian border, but were turned back en route by police, who warned them that the rebels had attacked a Mozambican army patrol a few hours earlier.

They said that when they entered the country they were not given any warnings and progressed without incident to their destination. But they noticed that when they stopped at a village to ask for directions, the villagers who had seen them coming, scattered and hid, obviously thinking they were rebels.

Kluckow said, “Our next plan was to head south towards Nampula but it is 490 kilometres on dirt roads in the bush and we were not familiar with the territory, especially in a country where we don’t speak the language. We managed to find a Mozambican sales representative who gave us a lift to Nampula. He told us that [his company] had cancelled a massive sales conference because of the rebel attacks. We hitched a ride with him and we managed to get two seats on an Airlink flight to Johannesburg.” The pair arrived in Johannesburg on Friday.

Kluckow and Adams made arrangements with a local family at Nkala to safeguard the car and their luxury imported boat until they could retrieve it.

“We have thousands of rands stuck there and we just hope it will still be there when we get back.”

The South African Department of International Relations and Co-operation’s spokesperson Clayson Monyela urged South Africans travelling to Mozambique to register with the Department of International Relations so that speedy assistance can be rendered in case of an emergency.

The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) have advised against all but essential travel to Sofala province, with the exception of the provincial capital, Beira.

The government of Mozambique confirmed that a military operation, targeting the Renamo opposition party’s Santunjira base camp in Sofala province, took place two weeks ago and they are continuing to attack Renamo troops.

An official from the Mozambican embassy, who refused to give his name as he was not authorised to speak to the media, said:

“The situation remains tense and we are advising people to avoid travelling to Sofala or north, and if they travel to make use of the military convoys for their own protection.”

The conflicts are not isolated to Sofala province where the Renamo rebels have their base. Other clashes between government troops and Renamo troops have occurred in Nampula province and Manica province.

Local travel agents said people were still travelling to Mozambique despite the violence.

Ivan Marx of LazyWayz Travel said he had no cancellations although some clients were a bit nervous about continuing with their trip to Mozambique. He said the only other hiccup was the availability of chartered flights.

Theona Bell of Travel Finesse said her clientele had not been affected and she had not received any cancellations.


- The Witness

[Sprocky]

2013-11-07 19:35

Maputo - Over 300 Mozambican former police intelligence officers on Thursday staged a protest outside President Armando Guebuza's office demanding their pensions be paid.

"Now that his mandate is coming to an end, we don't want the president to finish his mandate without resolving our problem," said spokesperson Adolf Beira.

Mozambique will next year hold presidential elections, expected to choose Guebuza's successor.

The officers, said to number over 2 000, are demanding over three years of retroactive pension pay-outs.

They claim they were unfairly dismissed by the state and replaced with younger officers.

The march took place under the watchful eye of heavily armed soldiers, stationed outside the presidency building.

The ex-servicemen dispersed peacefully after their representative met officials from Guebuza's office.

In February, the cops staged a smaller protest, warning that a wave of kidnappings in the capital Maputo would go unsolved without their help.

Mozambique has in the past two years been hit by kidnapping gangs targeting wealthy businessmen and increasingly children as well as foreign nationals.

- AFP

[Sprocky]

2013-11-11 09:07

Cape Town - South Africa and Mozambique are a step closer to having a one-stop border post at Lebombo-Ressano Garcia, which will ease congestion.

BDLive reports that parliament's standing committee on finance finally adopted the bilateral agreement between the two countries, after six years of investigation and research.

This will be the first bilateral agreement of its kind for South Africa and will most likely be replicated in other parts of the Sadc.

The border post facility and access road has already been built, however operations will only start once the two governments have given their go-ahead.

South African Revenue Service senior executive Kosie Louw said the benefits of one-stop border posts were reduced border crossing times and reduced logistics costs.

Pre-election violence between the Mozambican army and Renamo rebels has, however, put something of a dampener on tourism.

AFP reports that a spate of kidnappings and a low-intensity conflict with troubling echoes of Mozambique's civil war are threatening to scare away tourists who normally flock to the country's palm-fringed beaches.

Earlier this month, a pair of South Africans on a fishing trip had to flee for their lives from Renamo rebels.

Boyce Kluckow (36) of Nottingham Road and his friend Steve Adams (37) had to abandon their boats, cars, fishing and camping equipment to avoid confrontation with the rebel soldiers last week.

- News24 Travel

[pooky]

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/blog/afri...not-being-told
Mozambique story is not being told
Tensions are growing ahead of local elections but the outside world doesn't appear to be interested.
Last modified: 5 Nov 2013 02:37

Campaigning for Mozambique's local elections begins on Tuesday amid tensions. Government officials say in some places, voting might be postponed for security reasons because the former rebel group Renamo is threatening to boycott or disrupt the vote.

Companies like Rio Tinto have asked non-essential expatriates to leave the country until things die down a bit. People who work in some of the coal mines have been warned by police to be careful using the roads because Renamo is attacking motorists.

A few days ago a long distance truck was stopped and the driver killed.

Growing tensions between the Frelimo-led government and Renamo seem to be slowly reaching boiling point. Civilians caught in the middle live in fear and perpetual uncertainty about what is going to happen next. Some families have moved from the villages to small towns where they feel safer.

The international community is up in arms about the situations in the Central African Republic (CAR), the DRC, Mali and other trouble spots on the continent.

Hundreds of thousands of people haven't been displaced in Mozambique and the number of people dying may not be as high as elsewhere on the continent. But trying to prevent a potential conflict from starting is better rather than waiting for things to escalate.

We have seen countries issue travel warnings and say they are 'concerned' about the situation in Mozambique but that's it. There isn't much mentioned in the international media.

Maybe its not yet a 'sexy' story because we are not seeing many people dying yet. Maybe it's hard to access the area? Or maybe countries like the DRC, CAR, Somalia grab headlines and viewers much easier than a former Portuguese colony called Mozambique?

Under the radar

I don't have an answer as to why some stories are told, and many others aren't; why world leaders have summits that gloss over issues in some countries while focusing on others.

Maybe its done so as to not scare away investors? Mozambique is rich in coal and gas. Mabe it's to keep tourists coming to the country and Southern Africa as a whole? Let's face it many holiday makers won't come to a trouble spot. Those who do are probably wired differently.

Luckily, the skirmishes are so far limited to a few areas.

It will be a pity if one day we wake up and the occasional clashes we are seeing now between Frelimo and Renamo have turned into a war.

How long will the situation in Mozambique stay under the radar before more effort is made internationally to avert a ticking time bomb from exploding?

Or is it that people living outside the country and the region don't want to know or care?

[Sprocky]

2013-11-18 18:38

Maputo - Almost 50 people were injured during clashes between supporters of Mozambique's ruling party and the opposition, hospital staff said on Monday, just days before municipal elections.

The injuries occurred when members of the ruling Frelimo party and the opposition Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM) clashed during a rally in Gorongosa district, near the country's second city, Beira.

Residents of Gorongosa started to flee the district, national television station STV reported, fearing an attack by fighters loyal to the opposition Renamo party, which is boycotting the vote.

Renamo, Mozambique's largest opposition party, has 51 seats in the 250-member parliament.

Its leader, Afonso Dhlakama, has been on the run since the military attacked his hideout in the bush last month, after Renamo guerrillas launched attacks in central Sofala province, about 1000 kilometres north of the capital Maputo.

The string of attacks raised concern in the nation's central and northern regions, where natural resources expected to fuel economic growth, have been discovered.

Earlier this year, Renamo was blamed for a series of attacks on convoys and railway lines.

The former rebel group signed a peace deal with the ruling Frelimo party in 1992, ending a bloody civil war.

Renamo officials, however, tore up the agreement after the military took over Dhlakama's headquarters in Sofala last month. A senior Renamo leader was killed in the raid.

- SAPA