There is a bit of Frelimo Renamo and .......

Father Filipe Couto reveals political connections that make people an authentic "spectator". In Couto's view, there is a bit of Frelimo and Renamo vice versa. It is that Dhlakama is the leader that Frelimo wants to see straight ahead Renamo, because the changes would be unpredictable. The priest, involved in the movement of Marxist revolution in the 70s, did not hesitate to invite young people to "dig" the story, questioning the touted "facts" and find some (un) truths that accompany the 40 years of independence.

 

After 40 years of national independence, we have as greatest legacy?

Filipe Couto (FC): Who was born when independence began, now has 40 years, can now be father to sons, in this case perhaps can be a grandfather. He spent a lot of time and some things have changed. It is at this time that Mozambique began to be called independent, sovereign, and began to say that those within this territory, as they say, from the Rovuma to Maputo and from the Indian Zumbo, must have self-esteem and must decide their destinations, and this is most repeated by those who represent the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo).

Else part we have within the political, Renamo, where the leader it says is the father of what is called democracy. And there are other parties that I respect who are in opposition and did not enter the parliament, and we MDM that entered the parliament. All these parties are within this Mozambique.

Politically, Frelimo in the third congress said he became sole, perhaps anticipating that there would be multi-partisan. Renamo believes is forcing the Frelimo would be democratic or dictator. These are the political speeches that we have in these 40 years.

The purpose of the national liberation struggle, to liberate the land and man, was met and safeguarded?

FC: First, talking about land, people who are in rural areas where they have the hut can be said that what little they have that could cultivate or are cultivating no one can take away. They can be removed, but not so easily. They have land but do not have the means to make agriculture and in these 40 years the land was at that early stage that leaves to be desired.

And the man?

FC: If I ask a student here in Maputo it is free, what will I say?

Maybe so. But he has had room to participate in decisions or in public spaces involved in decisions that concern you?

FC: If you have participated in decisions that were taken, to make schools, building roads, cause there planes. Some things made were necessary. It was almost a case of emergency. For example: who could ask whether schools should be done?

Are you saying that all that has been done in recent decades is the will of the people, at least in education, health, nutrition and well-being?

FC: Do you think that education, health, food is enough? I do not think we have to move forward. But this advance, when we said we have to move forward, there is awareness that we have not progressed as it should be, if it exists, and I think so, it shows that after 40 years some things must be overcome, that must transform.

Some things are not or we did not yet gone beyond.

For example?

FC: The story of Mozambique in these 40 years was coded. For what?

It was written partially. That's it?

FC: First, we needed to start as we started. But when people grow up, they begin to have a certain curiosity. What does the story?

That the national liberation process began between the guerrilla forces of Frelimo and the Armed Forces of Portugal!

FC: The people are pleased to say that is the Frelimo?

Because there are more players?

FC: When a person grows and learns that what their parents taught as history, is very simple, you need to supplement. You can not explain what a plane to an engineering student explains to a child. After 40 years of history we had with much serenity, what we need to do?

Deepen the explanation?

FC: That's a big problem we have, but a problem that will mess with all that is taught in schools, universities and other research. If history is memory, what should we remember? What is said about the early history of liberation comes to you? We have to reform the way to teach the history of Mozambique. We have complementary. What we have in the history of Urias Simango, Lazarus Kavandame Paul Gumane?@@

They were traitors. Is that true?

FC: Are you satisfied with the answer that they were traitors That's what has to talk, discuss it. Traitor why? What he did or did not do?

You've been there. They have an answer?

FC: In 40 years we've been to calm you. Now we're old and you are free. Now grown up, find out a little more.

Need for new brains

It is pertinent to discuss the past?

FC: For me this may not interest, perhaps because it is old, I'm 76, might get dirty, but for the grandchildren of Uriah are in Mozambique, they want to know.

I want to say that these forty years feels the need to have new brains, which are able to think, not what was said to them when they were babies. All these people who were born in that period, if the brain is not washed may start thinking in a more correcta.Mas way maybe that does not have importance for those in the fields when they heard that Mozambique is free and now the Portuguese did not have more because Mozambicans themselves are free.

But who will investigate this? Certainly older will not investigate this, first because some do not. There are problems that are out there that are not problems of young people and do not know who goes to put these problems in the newspapers, television, etc.

I mean the truth will be exposed when the protagonists no longer are?

FC: It is one possible interpretation. But it can not be true, can be to appear brave young men to question this and see that the way to see it is not true. Because there are people who have the "tomatoes" in the hands. For example, where he died Eduardo Mondlane?

The official story says that he died in his office in Dar-Es-Salam. That's true?

FC: I recall that Joaquim Chissano said in one of his speeches that "when Mondlane died on the beach ...". I do not know if he was unaware of what was written in history.

Other necessary reforms?

FC: In the history of how it formed Frelimo is legitimate review to give more emphasis. It gives more emphasis to the National Democratic Union of Mozambique (UDEMANO) than

the African National Union of Mozambique (MANU) is one that remained with Frelimo forces with funding, heritage and everything.

The assets that Frelimo has in Zanzibar in Dar-Es-Salam in Mutuara which takes into Massassi, was all the MANU.

Since it considers the reform a task for young people, think the country is young with this capability?

FC: If you doubt that, I do not doubt. We had less capacity for 40 years, no one of those in government had made the university. All were unfinished. What should you do, perhaps, is to begin to change the mentality and say that the work is not only done under a boss.

There are, for example, problems in the justice reforms, we need to have independent lawyers, it is true that the lawyer wants to eat. Well, we'll get there one day, where the attorney will have enough. And if it fulfills the law, will not say do not do it because it will starve.

Provincial authorities: a certain project placed the wrong way.

We have other solutions?

FC: There was this discussion of autonomous provinces. Renamo and the MDM agreed to discuss, but the Frelimo disqualified.

What do you mean with "disqualified"?

FC: What did not accept the debate. But in parliament there are people like Aguiar Mazula, Theodahad Hunguana debating.

That analysis is to posture Renamo?

FC: Renamo has a Frelimo. Frelimo is no longer one cohesive Guebuza hoped that he deceived himself. In fact, if those made speeches, but after that was taken. And Renamo will assimilate some things Frelimo, unfortunately the militaristic part. Renamo will be authoritarian, now you're talking about democratization, she's not thinking about it, I would be in government. Renamo mimics the old Frelimo. At the Frelimo there are people starting to think and know not. It happened in Muxungué, the Dhlakama did not want war.

With this stance that the opposition has can classify Mozambique of multiparty?

FC: Mozambique is a multiparty country because the only party broke up and became several. No supporters of the opposition leaders not crossed your mind, what is the Frelimo. Dhlakama even sent whipping generals.

You think all Mozambicans tread the same path?

FC: When you talk about things, must assume some things are more or less well, even being wrong. I start from the assumption that, in general, even when we only look our stomach, we have not stopped working for the common interest. Because if I'm hungry and end up getting sick, it is not common interest that I'm sick, it is good for everyone if I am in good health. We must assume that, but do not go forward.

Renamo says it does what it does for the people and the government as well. However, each "pulls the coal to its sardines."

FC: It's good that Let's draw for our sardines, but if I want something I have to leave for some. The Guebuza error, if he did it, hurt. If he had done as Eduardo dos Santos, who gave a lot to the other, it would have been a little better.

Never be so idealistic. We can not win for us if we want everything to us. Imagine if everything is in Maputo was his, many would come against you. If you want all safely should share with their neighbors.

Walk towards the same goal would also learn this sense of sharing?

FC: This is a route, you can not work for others if you have nothing. Also if you have nothing, you can not give everything and you get nothing. You have to learn balance. That is why it is said that a good entrepreneur pays tax, gives facilities to their employees and pay salaries.

In a more concrete context, Frelimo and Renamo have the same goal?

FC: They have.

Because we are in a conflict situation if we have the same objective? It would not be easy to find common ground and walk?

FC: Is that common points are never fixed, change. Why Dhlakama still alive? First, because Frelimo know who Dhlakama, but do not know who the other after Dhlakama. Second, Frelimo has given something to Dhlakama and he received not only today. Frelimo knows that Dhlakama knows how to receive and if you upset know how to ask. Has the problem that when you ask, threat with weapons. As happened in the war Muxungué?

I would not have been ignored your request?

FC: I said are not fixos.Construíram points together some 20 years of "peace", and built together to war Muxungué. When was Congress Pemba?

In 2010, what does that mean?

FC: When did Congress, Guebuza passes from Nampula to Pemba, meets Dhlakama. And Dhlakama lies with Manuel Araújo in Quelimane, the conference ends and Dhlakama goes Santugira and stay there. Start conflicts, then we are at war. If the conflict continued there would be elections. Guebuza was interested in all there were no elections. That's when everyone started to call for peace.

After all, what are the real interests of the Renamo president?

FC: I do not want to get in his life without the undisputed leader or president, but it knows it can not and does not arrive, he will not be replaced by another in Renamo and Frelimo help.

That's why I drove Raul Domingos? Frelimo feared Raul Domingos?

FC: Nope. But Frelimo knows that Dhlakama is the best minister who has.

Could be clearer?

FC: Dhlakama always helped Frelimo to stay in power. Because when you need to make the game of Frelimo. Dhlakama has repeatedly denied that Renamo was to municipalities. And when Davis Simango said he would, Dhlakama took Simango party. Not served the Frelimo?

Renamo is Mozambican army in Angola.

You can do the analysis of the two speeches, the Dhlakama and the Nyusi?

FC: I was not when they met. What they said I do not know. But Elias Dhlakama is brigadier general and head of the reservists was in Angola representing the Mozambican government. Why it was not the Grace Chongo? He said that because of illness. Then in Angola, a general, deputy chief of the General Staff, whose party belongs is Renamo is the Mozambican army?

This is a game of masks?

FC: Do you know why the International Conference Centre Joaquim Chissano things do not go. Renamo guerrillas without having made Muxungué, was combined. I do not know why you have difficulties to understand it. I said the other day that all groups, to make what is called conversations or dialogue, at one time, when not serving, should be modified, superseded, and found other ways to work, rather than to deceive.

Who was wrong about Muxungué? The people?

FC: The people are not being fooled, the people have questions: how Dhlakama was receiving in Santugira, trucks every day, had food, cold beers, etc.? How does the Gorongosa down an airplane to treat Dhlakama?

Nyusi have different expressions but that is not enough.

Think Mozambique has room for all parties that have emerged over the years?

FC: I will answer this way: if you want a ton of premium quality bananas can not plant ten banana. Should plant lots of banana trees, where there must be good banana trees, there must be those that are going to be stolen, there must be banana trees that will rot.

Young people are well represented in the government of Filipe Nyusi?

FC: Felipe Nyusi is a different thing, I will not say by age. But the origin, studies, perhaps no more than Mondlane, but studied more than all the others. He campaigned saying they did not want to party recommendations. It is a government where the president has new expressions, but the problem is there where I said that there are things to overcome.

The economy after 40 years of national independence

We had improvement in the economy over the years?

FC: No one disputes that we had throughout this time, many infrastructure. See how many buildings we have in the city, the construction field, we have hotels and can speak in public and private universities, can also speak of the amount of schools, universities. All this is within 40 years, but is within this 40 years where media say the country is wrong. It is within these 40 years, poverty has increased and there are few who have. Perhaps in the future we will have a solution for that.

You can have a really friendly government?

FC: Do you think you have? Because he does not support? If he does not accept that you enter, why not suggest to him as you should let in? I never asked the government of Mozambique to do something for me, but I did for the government and sometimes did not agree with me.

And when he did not agree?

FC: I was in my corner, I was rector of the University Eduardo Mondlane (UEM) and left early. I spent four years in EMU and was taken away. I think the government thought it was doing things I should not.

But let's see together some things we should overcome. There was talk of fighting absolute poverty, but we gave it a step?

Perhaps even in the cities, but in the districts does not.

FC: The problem is that for Niassa power flow to their districts needs to be decentralized. Is it to be what is in Nelspruit. All is in Pretoria. The parliament is in Cape Town. We could follow suit, putting the parliament there and the central government here.

To solve agricultural problems in the districts would need to decentralize. The former Minister of State Administration, Aguiar Mazula, presented a program saying that the governor should be elected and not appointed. We want to distinguish between party and government. We would have to get used to a governor who is governor for all, and not those who have the "red card". Man Nelspruit do things without having Jacob Zuma orders.(J.DEBATE/ N Mucandze)

BREAKING NEWS!!!

'News 24' reports that the Mozambican PAP delegates were were robbed at gunpoint outside their hotel entrance in Midrand, Gauteng.According to 'News 24' report, the Mozambican PAP delegates were among a group of other countries' representatives arriving to South Africa to attend the Pan African Parliament session. They were robbed outside their hotel entrance in Midrand, Gauteng. The report does not name any of the victims held at gunpoint. However, renown Mozambican politician Eduardo Mulémbwé is due in South Africa as he is running for PAP's presidency with full support from SADC, in an election due tomorrow, Wednesday. It is still unknown whether Mulémbwé was in the group robbed on Friday.The group of delegates was attacked on Friday night while in their shuttle bus, which had picked them up from the airport, South African police spokesperson Lungelo Dlamini said in a statement.

“There were two guys, pulling a gun, at my side. They took the key for the car, and then they said ‘where’s the money? Where’s cellphones?' Then they started to search everyone in the car.”

They stole hand luggage containing with cash, cellphones, and passports.

The delegates were from Cape Verde, Ethiopia, Ghana, Benin, Mozambique and the UK.

The shuttle driver, Thandazani Mabuza, told broadcaster eNCA that when he rolled down his window to get a card from the security guard at the Protea Hotel Midrand's entrance, he was held up.

Police were looking at security footage to try and identify the suspects.

Nobody was injured.

The seat of the Parliament is in Midrand, South Africa. It was established in March 2004, by Article 17 of The Constitutive Act of the African Union, as one of the nine Organs provided for in the Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community signed in Abuja,Nigeria, in 1991. According to PAP's website, "the establishment of the Pan-African Parliament is informed by a vision to provide a common platform for African peoples and their grass-roots organizations to be more involved in discussions and decision-making on the problems and challenges facing the continent."

Meet Mozambique's new Visa rules

In accordance with the new Regulation which establishes the legal requirements to be applied to all foreign nationals for their entry, exit and period of stay in Mozambique, approved by Decree No. 108/2014, December 31, the following new visas are introduced:

- Visa for Sports and Cultural Activities – this is issued to foreign citizens duly designated for this purpose by the competent authorities and which is intended to allow its holder to enter the country in order to participate in sports competitions and cultural demonstrations;

- Visa for Investment Activity – this is granted to the foreign citizen who is either an investor, or a representative or a proxy holder of an investing company. It is intended to allow its holder to enter the country for the implementation of investment projects approved by the Council of Ministers;

- Temporary Stay Visa – this is granted to the spouse and the minor or disabled children of a foreign citizen holding a work permit;

- Crew Trans-shipment Visa – this is issued to foreign citizens in the maritime or aerial crossing stations and which allows the transfer of the crew member from one vessel to another or from a ship to an aircraft and vice versa. 

Mozambican Armed Forces attacks in Gaza?

In the negotiations and in the media, Renamo has in recent times denounced attacks on their positions in Gaza by the Mozambican Defence and Security Forces (FADS). The Government has always denied such attacks. In a press conference in the ‘Joaquim Chissano’ Conference Centre at the end of the 106th round of negotiations between the government and Renamo, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, José Pacheco, spoke of attacks, but said that they have as their targets elephant and rhino poachers.According to José Pacheco it is not justified that Renamo complains of attacks on its men by the Defence and Security Forces, while its headquarters (Renamo’s) and its actions (Renamo’s) are circumscribed to Muxungué, Inchope, Sadjundjira and Gorongosa.Pacheco told reporters that he asked Renamo if their headquarters was in Sandjundira and if the military hostilities had occurred between the Save and the Inchope (rivers), the areas where the men who appeared in Guijá came from.Pacheco said, that being so, one can only "be facing furtive hunters of elephant tusks, rhino horns," and that when they are caught, Renamo speaks of "violation of the Cessation of Hostilities Military Agreement".On the accusations that the government wants to assassinate Dhlakama, José Pacheco said that "what the government wants is to have Afonso Dhlakama alive because he is a valid interlocutor.""We are eventually facing a psychological preparation, within Renamo, that intends to break free from their president. We will possibly be facing a psychological preparation to reactivate violent armed actions, with all these baseless accusations," he said.

Why not leave? What's there?

Chang says that, over the life of this federation, there should not be any problem of the current cast "let us take this boat and conduzirmos.Cáustico and front. It is, strictly speaking, as Manuel Chang, presidential candidate of the Mozambican Football Federation (FMF), spoke at the meeting with sportsmen in Quelimane aimed to present its clear allusion to candidatura.Numa cast led by Feizal Sidat, Manuel Chang said loudly - and who wanted to hear - that there are clear signs that it does not intend to abandon the Mozambican Federation Futebol.O candidate goes further to say that do not want the Movement for Football Football develop their work to moralize the beautiful game in Mozambique. 

"I thought that ended the mandate of the federation, there should not be any problem of the current federation let us take this boat and conduct. Feizal Sidat, entrepreneur and owner of Academica typography, brother of the President of Maputo Club Sports League, linked to the previous political power, has in the last three months visited the Provincial Football Associations, providing sports equipment and is present in inaugurations of sports infrastructure, driving seminars on arbitration, with trips to Dubai and Zurich taking part in events on the sport. More recently inaugurated the new and beautiful headquarters of the Mozambican Football Federation, in what is seen after two terms as wanting to show trabalho.Feizal clings to the fact that FIFA does not limit the mandates that clashes with the Sports Law of the country.

Success, South African mercenaries against Boko Haram

It is clear that the webs with which sews the "powerful" Frelimo depend on the correlation of forces greater than specific individuals. While it may transpire one centralized power image on the leader, this does nothing to fulfill decisions of a small college people, as has been seen throughout the history of this party. If today is a Policy Committee that oversees the party schedule, it should be clarified that each leader leaves its mark and way of being compared to their peers in this "club". There remains the domain of the "liberators" in this committee, and new entrants meet statutory spaces, but they know and realize they do not have the real power of the word or initiative to propose actions. They are like people needed for quorum purposes, but little else. When a reputed member of Frelimo, also liberating said publicly that he feared that the handover to a new generation could involve "selling the country", it was well understood and interpreted in real circles of power.

The various forms that takes the composition of the decision-making bodies of Frelimo leave no room for a generational change happening in power.

In a game nothing simple in that use all means to continue in the heights, the candidate's choice, now PR, was enlightening about the survivability and replication of the old guard of Frelimo.

Tell yourself that, for reasons of political survival and legacy, there was no hesitation, over the years, in spot images and cut or eliminate people from acting spaces before very prevalent. Just ask certain individuals rather even supposed irreplaceable and gentlemen of truth and reason. The fine flower Samora Machel who idolized and promoted his cult of personality, for, between the lines, cementing their individual power, virtually disappeared from the official channels of Frelimo. They whine in the corners, but I have no space in the public media. Bearing in mind that the PR counselors teams are made up of people hand-picked and coming from the former leaders of Frelimo, it is not surprising that the PR build your public speaking in the wake of advising him. And the final product does not contradict the view of those true centers of power in the Frelimo.

Filipe Jacinto Nyusi is in the difficult position of listening Alberto Chipande, Joaquim Chissano and Armando Guebuza. It is an indisputable fact but an opinion resulting from reading the recent statements by the PR. There is a clear line forces in Frelimo that focuses on maintaining power without condescension or possibility of negotiation and building consensus with the opposition against the conduct of the October elections in 2014 and later approved final results.

As in the past, it seems that the decision is that the plaintiffs end up accepting the state of things "cooked". There is a clear inability to see momentum in national affairs and behavior of different parties. It is difficult to change, and it has several examples. Even when it is crucial achieve consensus and concerted, they converge and give, there are those who think and claim that only their word is the truth then by all. The recent history of Mozambique has been a war or verbal confrontation between militarized political forces that remain unconvinced that the political and economic democracy is the only system that can bring stability, peace and consequent development of the country. Successive agreements signed between Renamo and the government of Frelimo have been rammed whenever considered vital interests of a party are at risk of setbacks. Now, after unsuccessful attempts to reach a global political agreement, which would, in practice, signing a new AGP in Maputo, hangs in the National Air the impression that sold out the mechanisms for dialogue or negotiation. Growing twitching, and the former belligerents can return at any time to be belligerent in assets and across the board. Believing that there are irreducible between the parties, and since the war strategists consider that conditions are created for the outbreak of hostilities, we can only know when it will happen. Realistically speaking, the regional political situation points to the existence of concrete support to those who defend the final solution.

It will be moved by that fact that the speeches harden?

Are there acquired guarantees that there will be supply and support, if not third-party in another fratricidal conflict?

If we want to be concrete, the combat experience against the Boko Haram by hiring South African mercenaries was a success and it is not insignificant that this route is applied in Mozambique. After South Africa can not withstand a stop supply of electricity and gas at this time. The sum of existing foreign corporate interests in Mozambique requires that something be done to ensure that its operations flow smoothly. It is difficult and virtually impossible to predict what will happen in the near future in the country.  But one thing is certain, with bargaining derailment, are the millions of destitute hungry Mozambicans who will again suffer.  The political and economic elite historically irresponsible judges is protected of what might happen, but actually it is not so.  A new confrontation must be avoided by all means, and calls it a refrain from exclusionary discourses and viscerally against the interests of Mozambicans.  This country, Mozambique, should not be a repetition of stories of failures and overruns for carnage and sectarian violence. It is now that civil society, religious bodies, parliamentary and extra-parliamentary political forces should show what they are and what really moves. Concord, peace, stability and progress should not be just words that are pronounced as may be convenient, but something that unites Mozambicans regardless of their political orientation, religious, social stratum.

The national flag covers all and the country belongs to everyone.

It is in times of crisis such as we are experiencing that stand out and reveal the true leaders.

Claims to national leadership, and it is felt and has immediate effect, because every day of contention is food for connoisseurs of war. (Noé Nhantumbo)

NYUSI URGES SOUTH AFRICA TO PUNISH INSTIGATORS OF ATTACKS

Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi on Wednesday night urged his South African counterpart, Jacob Zuma, to ensure that those responsible for the wave of xenophobic violence in April against foreigners living in South Africa are brought to justice.  Nyusi made this appeal at a banquet offered in honour of Zuma, who is on a two day state visit to Mozambique.He also urged Zuma to work towards eliminating the causes of xenophobia. During the April attacks at least three Mozambicans are known to have died. “We praise the measures taken by your government, but the Mozambican people are awaiting, with great interest the investigations that the South African authorities are undertaking”, said Nyusi. “This is a matter which concerns Mozambicans, South Africans and all people who love peace and defend human rights”. Despite the violent attacks, Nyusi said he was pleased at the current stage of cooperation between Mozambique and South Africa. He thought the political will exists on both sides to overcome the current challenges and explore the existing potential.
South Africa is Mozambique’s largest trading partner, and South Africa occupies third position in the list of countries whose companies are investing in Mozambique.Despite this positive balance, Nyusi believed there is room to increase investment, and encourage the business people of both countries to become more creative and innovative, taking advantage of existing business opportunities. “Mozambique has arable land and an abundance of water and energy resources”, he said. “Our potential in hydropower, coal, natural gas and renewable energies allows us to guarantee the energy security of both countries”. To use all these resources rationally, Mozambique and South Africa should continue to work together, “promoting pragmatic and mutually advantageous cooperation”, he added.
For his part, Zuma assured his host that the South African authorities are investigating the question of xenophobia, to ensure that there is no repeat of the anti-foreigner attacks.
An inter-ministerial committee had been set up, and was looking into the causes of the attacks. “We have also met with various stakeholders”, said Zuma, “to discuss the question and guarantee that this situation does not happen again”.Among those contacted had been the various associations representing foreign residents in South Africa. Zuma said he was comforted by the reactions of South Africans who had vehemently condemned the attacks, and in some cases had intervened actively to stop them. “In general, South Africans are not xenophobic”, he said. “They know that for many decades we lived and worked with the people of Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe against the apartheid regime”.The April violence, Zuma insisted, could never wipe out the historic and political ties between Mozambique and South Africa. Instead, those ties should be improved by building economic cooperation. He recognized that the partnership between the two countries has produced satisfactory results, expressed in around 60 bilateral agreements and memoranda of understanding, covering a vast range of areas, including security, transport, trade, investment, energy, water, the environment, agriculture and mining.Zuma wanted the economic relations between the two countries to be further encouraged, resulting in increases in trade and investment. 

Nyusi meets Archbishop Jaime Gonçalves

The President of Mozambique met one of the negotiators of the General Peace Agreement in Rome (1992), the Mozambican Archbishop Dom Jaime Gonçalves, last Friday, on Beira city, during Nyusi's visit to the province of Sofala.During the meeting the two spoke at length about solutions to seek effective peace for Mozambicans.

COMPETE IN MOZAMBICAN DOMESTIC MARKET

Three other airlines intend to compete with the national carrier LAM (Mozambique Airlines) on the domestic market, according to the chairperson of the Mozambican Civil Aviation Authority, Joao de Abreu, interviewed by the independent television station STV.  He gave few details, but said that two of the companies will operate fixed wing aircraft, and the third will operate helicopters. Two of the companies are in the final phase of obtaining auuthorisations. Abreu named two of the companies as Fly Africa and MAIS, Fly Africa is a budget airline based in South Africa, which claims to fly from Johannesburg to Harare, Victoria Falls and Windhoek with fares over 60 per cent lower than those charged by its competitors.The Fly Africa website gives the company’s mission as “to be always affordable. We will offer low fares every day. We will use technology to make travel hassle free, so you can travel happy”. AIM has so far obtained no information about MAIS or the third company, which Abreu did not name. He said that one of the companies will be based in Beira and a second “probably” in Nacala.

 He expected at least one of them to start flying in September”. “Aviation is not just about large planes”, said Abreu. “We are inviting businesses also to fly to the districts, and not to think solely of large aircraft”. One of the challenges, he added, is to persuade companies to explore the possibilities of flight to more remote parts of the country.  Meanwhile, the general secretary of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), Raymond Benjamin, who has been attending an African Aviation Seminar in Maputo, told STV that he is opposed to the European Union’s decision to put LAM, and all other Mozambique-registered air companies, on the blacklist of airlines banned from European airspace.  The EU took this decision in 2011, and has renewed it every subsequent year. The reason given concerns failings, not in the airlines themselves, but at the IACM. “We are against the banning of airlines. This decision was taken by the EU”, said Benjamin. “But if our organization, together with the Mozambican aviation authorities, shows that Mozambique is evolving in air safety, then your country will get out of this position”.

100 MILLION DOLLARS FOR MOZAMBIQUE

The British government on Wednesday guaranteed aid equivalent to 100 million US dollars, to be applied, among other areas, to projects linked to good governance and the structuring of the state. Britain’s Minister for Africa, James Duddridge, announced the aid shortly after a meeting in Maputo with Mozambican Foreign Minister Oldemiro Baloi.     Duddridge was on a two day visit to Mozambique.This was the first foreign trip for the Minister since he was reappointed following the Conservative Party victory in the 7 May general election.The focus of his visit was to highlight the UK/Mozambique High Level Prosperity Partnership, which aims to strengthen economic cooperation based on shared priorities in specific sectors. His first stop was a trip to the brewery of Cervejas de Mocambique (CDM) which produces the country’s most popular beers. It is owned by SAB Miller, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange. Duddridge also held meetings with other British business figures operating in Mozambique.According to the British Foreign Office, the Minister used his visit to express the UK Government’s commitment to “help the country create a more open and freer business environment, growth and jobs” and to reiterate Britain’s “continued support to Mozambique in its agenda of promoting peace and reconciliation, especially as the country marks its 40 years of independence”.

Duddridge said that, during his meeting with Baloi, he “emphasised the importance of political stability and inclusiveness to Mozambique’s continued growth and development”. He also took the opportunity to invite Baloi to visit Britain. At the end of his visit Duddridge said “I was delighted to make Mozambique my first overseas visit since my reappointment as Minister for Africa. This is a young and vibrant country with an incredibly bright future. Mozambique’s dynamism and potential is the reason it was chosen as one of the UK’s five High Level Prosperity Partners in Africa”. He added, “I’m keen to encourage more British businesses to invest in Mozambique and we will be working closely with the Government of Mozambique to create the free and open business environment to make that possible. I’m proud that the UK and Mozambique have such an enduring relationship and look forward to it going from strength to strength in the future”.

“ECONOMIC SABOTAGE”

The governor of the western Mozambican province of Tete, Paulo Auade, has discovered five brand new tractors lying idle in an area designated for a future agricultural machine park, when they ought to have been used in the current agricultural campaign.The machine park is in the Nkondezi region, in Moatize district. According to a report in the Beira daily paper “Diario de Mocambique”, the tractors, each with a plough and various other accessories, cost a million meticais (about 30,000 US dollars) each. The tractors were allocated to Nkondezi by the Zambezi Valley Development Agency, which is setting up machine parks across Tete, in order to help increase the production and productivity of peasant farmers.“This is called economic sabotage”, said Auade, as he surveyed the idle tractors. “It’s a crime to leave the machines here doing nothing, when the peasants need these tractors. This is just playing around, and during this governance we shall end this. “.He noted that the tractors had been allocated without any plan as to how they would be used. Nobody knew when they would begin to work.“This shows that the tractors were bought without any prior consultation with the peasants as to what their needs are”, said Auade. The peasants were not asked whether they needed the machines, or whether they had other priorities such as improving access roads, or irrigation.“Because no plan was made, these tractors remain exposed to the elements, without doing any work”, said the governor.Also during his visit to Moatize, Auade was angered to find that the company TIC, a contractor hired to build five classrooms in the Zobue administrative post, had failed to equip them with blackboards. It had also failed to place taps on the tanks used to harvest rain water.
Although TIC had received money for the blackboards, the Moatize District Education Services felt obliged to dip into its own funds to buy them.Auade ordered that TIC be removed from the list of authorized contractors in the province. “This company can never again bid for building jobs”, he said, “since it has shown that it is not serious”.He also accused the district education director, Antonio Sopa, of being “a bad manager”, for failing to hold TIC to the terms of its contract.“The state gave money to the contractor, but you took out more money to buy the black boards”, said Auade. “That’s not how it should be. The contractor must be held responsible for everything in the contract which it failed to do”.

The two men arrested with counterfeit dollars

Two Portuguese citizens whose identities have not been disclosed were arrested Monday evening in Maputo’s ‘Bairro Central’ in possession of more than 16,000 fake US dollars. The versions on this story differ, as 'O País' reports today.One of the men owns a restaurant in Matola and claims that the fake dollar bills ended up in his hands more than three years ago, when he was the victim of a fraud, protesting that all he did wrong was fail to hand it all to the authorities. The other man says that he was trapped and knows nothing about fake dollars. Police says they made the counterfeit dollars and also forged “other currencies”, adding that they did it for a living, as the were unemployed. Police also says that they are now chasing a third element - who managed to escape during last Monday's operation - in order to dismantle the gang’s operations.Both the men now in jail have lived in Mozambique for more than five years and, according to PRM, they have been working in the catering and restaurant business in Matola city, on the outskirts of Maputo.Police, cited by ‘O País’, say that the two individuals are part of a gang which, besides counterfeiting US dollars, was also dedicated to falsifying “other currencies”.
The justification for the money forgery would have been that they were jobless.
"At the time of the arrest, one of the individuals said that this was their 'modus vivendi', allegedly due to the lack of jobs. The Police’s position is that this is a futile justification, as no unemployment may justify counterfeiting," said Orlando Mudumane, spokesman to the PRM in Maputo, cited by the same source.
During the operation that led to the arrest of the two men, a third member of the group reportedly managed to escape. Among the alleged forgers gang, the fugitive is the one who supposedly owns the material used for the production of fake bills. "This is a work the police are doing, based on sources that provide information on such cases. We are now in pursuit of the third member of the gang, in order to dismantle the scheme," added Mudumane.One of the accused acknowledges that he is the owner of the US$16,000 counterfeited dollar bills. He claims, however, that he received this money as the result of a fraud committed against him, three years ago, in his Matola restaurant. He also says that, ever since, he has kept the counterfeited money with him. "The fake bills are mine and were left in my restaurant, more than three years ago. By my stupidity, I never took them," said the unidentified detainee, cited by 'O País'.The other detainee, according to the same source, simply “denies the false dollars", claiming that he was "caught in a trap”. "I have only two words to say. I was caught in a trap and I don’t know anything about fake dollars."The two Portuguese citizens are currently detained at the 7th Police Station in Maputo city and a criminal case has been open.

Chinese arrested for bribery

The Mozambican police have arrested a second Chinese citizen in connection with Tuesday’s seizure of 1.3 tonnes of ivory and rhino horns, reports Thursday’s issue of the independent newssheet “Mediafax”.The first Chinese was arrested at the house in the southern city of Matola where the police discovered 65 rhino horns and 340 elephant tusks, which were being packaged ready to be smuggled out of the country. This was the largest ever haul of illicit wildlife products in Mozambican history, and has a street value of about 1.3 million US dollars.The second Chinese was arrested on Wednesday morning, when he attempted to secure the release of his colleague by offering the Matola police a large bribe.At the police station he claimed that he had been sent by the Chinese embassy to look into the situation of the his detained fellow-countryman. Then he pulled 1.2 million meticais (about 34,700 US dollars) and slapped it on the table as the price for his colleague’s release. But not only did the policeman with whom he was attempting to negotiate reject the bribe – he promptly arrested him and charged him with attempting to bribe a police officer.“The work ahead of us now is to find out where these goods came from and what was their intended destination”, the spokesperson for the Maputo Provincial Police Command, Emidio Mabunda, told “Mediafax”.The police have not released the names of either of the two Chinese now under arrest.

MOZAMBIQUE ECONOMIC GROWTH REMAINS ROBUST - IMF

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) considers Mozambique’s economic performance to be robust and stronger than most other sub-Saharan African countries, according to a press release issued at the end of a visit by an IMF staff mission.The mission was in Mozambique to discuss with Mozambican officials the preparation of the fourth review of the Policy Support Instrument (PSI) approved in June 2013. A PSI is an instrument for countries that are not asking the IMF to lend them any money but are still seeking IMF endorsement for their policies (often necessary to persuade other donors or funding agencies to provide support).According to the leader of the staff team, Alex Segura-Ubiergo, “growth is expected to reach seven percent in 2015, though there are downside risks to this outlook due to declining commodity prices and the need for fiscal consolidation”.He added, “over the medium-term, Mozambique is expected to remain one of the most dynamic economies in the continent, with rates of growth that could average eight percent over the 2016-19 period”.Mozambique is preparing to begin the development of a massive natural gas processing industry in the north of the country. Although the first gas will not be produced from the Rovuma basin until 2019 at the earliest, the IMF points out that up to a hundred billion US dollars will be spent on its development which “could transform the country into the third largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter in the world”.The two lead companies in the Rovuma Basin, the US company Anadarko and Italy’s ENI have not yet taken final decisions on how best to exploit the estimated 200 trillion cubic feet of gas off the coast of Cabo Delgado province. However, the IMF mission “was encouraged by positive developments in the last few months, including the approval of new legislation that could help bring the projects to a final investment decision in 2015”.However, the IMF warned “while these projects will provide large fiscal revenues in about a decade, focus on other economic sectors is also essential to make growth more inclusive and create employment opportunities”.It welcomed the fact that “the government’s new economic and social plan focuses on key priorities that could support this objective”, but noted “there is a need to build capacity to transform ambitious strategic documents into effective programmes”.Turning to current events, the mission noted that inflation remained low (1.1 per cent) last year due to “a rebound in agricultural production and the relative strength of the Metical during most of the year”.It expects inflation to increase to 5.5 per cent in 2015, which will be in line with the government’s medium term target of 5 to 6 per cent.The IMF welcomed the situation whereby “after a large fiscal expansion in 2014, which saw the overall fiscal deficit soar to over 10 per cent of GDP, the 2015 budget brings back public finances to a sustainable path”.The mission was “encouraged by the authorities’ commitment to rigorous budget execution” and urged them “to carefully prioritise spending to ensure that critical social programmes are protected. Prudent borrowing for projects that bring value-for-money is essential, as fiscal space for new debt is increasingly limited”.The IMF staff team highlighted that “the authorities are making progress on structural reform implementation, and are to be commended for becoming the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to request and publish a Fiscal Transparency Evaluation (FTE) from the IMF”.During its visit from 27 April to 8 May, the IMF team met with the Minister of Economy and Finance, Adriano Maleiane; the Governor of the Bank of Mozambique, Ernesto Gove; other senior government officials; and leading figures of the private sector, civil society, and development partners.

POLICE SEIZE HUGE HAUL OF IVORY AND RHINO HORNS

The Mozambican police on Tuesday seized about 1.3 tonnes of ivory and rhinoceros horns from a house in the southern city of Matola, according to a report on the independent television station, STV.This is the largest seizure of illicit wildlife products in Mozambican history. The haul consisted of 340 elephant tusks, weighing 1,160 kilos, and 65 rhino horns, weighing 124 kilos. The criminal gang involved in this trafficking had thus killed 170 elephants and 65 rhinos.The operation culminating in the seizure involved 20 offices from various branches of the police and a team from the forestry and wild life department of the Ministry of Agriculture. According to the spokesperson for the Maputo provincial police command, Emidio Mabunda, “some of the tusks still have fresh blood, a sign that some of animals could have been killed recently.The police arrested a Chinese citizen who seemed to be living alone in the house. His name was not released. The police hope he will lead them to other members of the trafficking ring.Last year the price of rhino horn was estimated at 60,000 US dollar a kilo – much more than the price of gold or of cocaine. Ivory is cheaper, but its price in China has soared – from about 700 dollars a kilo in 2010 to 2,100 dollars a kilo in 2014. So the ivory and rhino horn seized in Matola has a street value of over 6.3 million dollars. Since both species of African rhinoceros, the black and the white, are believed to be extinct in southern Mozambique, the 65 horns seized in Matola almost certainly come from animals slaughtered in South Africa, probably in the Kruger National Park. South Africa has the largest rhinoceros population in the world, but it is being severely hit by poaching. Last year, a record was set when 1,215 rhinos were killed in South Africa, but that figure could well be exceeded this year. Between January and April the poaching gangs killed 393 South African rhinos, an 18 per cent increase on the same period in 2014.As for the tusks, they could come either from Mozambican or South African animals, or possibly from further afield.The police say the criminals were preparing to smuggle the ivory and horns out of the country. It is not yet clear how they planned to move such a large amount.Last week, Attorney-General Beatriz Buchili, in her report to parliament on justice and crime in 2014, said that 75 investigations into poaching were begun, 57 people were charged, and 23 cases came to trial. She gave details of just one case, in which three foreigners (whose nationalities were not revealed) were arrested in Inhambane province in possession of two rhino horns in February 2014. They were each given the extraordinarily lenient sentence of a 200,000 metical fine (slightly less than 6,000 dollars).Prominent environmental activist Carlos Serra urged the authorities to incinerate the ivory and rhino horns. “It should be destroyed”, he declared, “sending a message to the world that this country is really committed to this matter, and that we are shifting to another level of intervention in the fight against poaching and the illegal slaughter of these animals”.Incineration would also avoid the risk that the ivory and the horns would fall into the wrong hands. If they were just left in warehouses, “the risk that they will be stolen is very high”, warned Serra.

SCANDAL OF CARDOSO ASSASSIN MISSING FROM ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S REPORT

Some reports are as revealing for what they leave out as for what they contain.

The report on the state of justice in Mozambique delivered in the country’s parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, by Attorney-General Beatriz Buchili, was startling for its complete omission of one of the major scandals that stained the judicial system in 2014 – the early release of one of Mozambique’s most notorious assassins, Momad Assife Abdul Satar (“Nini”).

Satar was one of the three businessmen found guilty of ordering the murder, in November 2000, of Mozambique’s top investigative journalist, Carlos Cardoso. He was sentenced to a prison term of 24 years and six months, but was released after serving only half this sentence.

It is true that prisoners become eligible for control after serving half their sentence – but only if they have shown behaviour while in jail. The Public Prosecutor’s office did not believe there was any sign of such good behavior.

Mobile phones were smuggled repeatedly into Satar’s cell in the Maputo top security prison, allowing him to remain in contact with his associates beyond the prison walls. He was also able to open and maintain a Facebook page – even though prisoners are not allowed access to cell phones and computers.

Satar’s name was repeatedly mentioned as supposedly ordering the wave of kidnappings of businessmen of Asian origin that began in late 2011. Satar denied this, of course, and claimed that he was collaborating with the police in order to ensure the arrest of the real masterminds behind the kidnap gangs.

Infuriated by such claims, the general command of the police retorted that “Nini is not helping the police identify kidnappers as some of the press would have us believe. The sole truth is that Nini is the boss of the kidnaps, and the police will continue its role in fighting this phenomenon”.

In 2013, prosecutors tried to include Satar in a list of those accused of the kidnappings. A Maputo judge, Aderito Malhope, ruled there was not enough evidence to charge Satar.

It was also judge Malhope who, the following year, ordered Satar’s release. But the judge seemed to have forgotten that the murder of Carlos Cardoso was not the only crime committed by Satar.

He was also found guilty of the major fraud in which the equivalent of 14 million US dollars was stolen from what was then the country’s largest bank, the BCM (Commercial Bank of Mozambique), on the eve of its privatization.

For this crime Satar was sentenced to 14 years. The Maputo City Court should have rolled the sentences for the murder and the fraud into a single prison term. This would not have been a simple addition of the two sentences, but it would have been more than the 24 years and six months handed down for the Cardoso assassination.

In effect, Satar has not served a day of his sentence for the BCM fraud. The patient and detailed work of those honest prosecutors who brought the complex fraud case to trial was thus cast aside.

And to date Satar has not paid a cent in compensation to his victims. The six men found guilty of assassinating Carlos Cardoso were ordered to pay the equivalent of 588,000 dollars in compensation to his two children. According to the Cardoso family lawyer, Lucinda Cruz, so far nothing at all has been paid.

Satar and his co-conspirators were also ordered to repay what they stole from the BCM. But none of that money has been repaid either.

None of this, however, found its way into Buchili’s stoically upbeat report. It might spoil the euphoria reflected in the Panglossian headline in Friday’s issue of the Maputo daily “Noticias” which proclaimed “Justice records advances”.

Satar seems to imagine that he is untouchable. He pays none of the compensation ordered by the Maputo City Court in two major criminal cases, but publicly boasts that he is a very wealthy man.

For instance, on his Facebook page Satar recently declared “I am blessed with money and the taste to buy whatever there is of the best quality in the world. My wardrobe alone is worth millions of dollars”.

So where did this wealth come from? Why has the Maputo City Court not made it its business to find out how a man who was in jail just a few months ago, now claims to own clothes worth millions of dollars? A reasonable suspicion is that perhaps these are some of the same millions of dollars siphoned from the BCM.

The Satar scandal does not end with his taste in clothes. Prisoners on parole are suppose to stay in the country and report regularly to the court. But the Maputo City Court – judge Malhope again – authorized Satar to travel to India for medical treatment.

Now any medical treatment not available in Maputo can be acquired next door, in South Africa. So what was so special about Satar’s medical condition that he had to travel half way round the globe? And when he reached India, he decided he would like to be treated elsewhere, and so he decided to fly to London. He should have reported back to the Maputo Court on 15 April, but did not do so.

A further stain on the reputation of the judiciary in this case is that Satar has rented a house in Maputo – and his landlord is a judge. What sort of a judge is it who makes money by renting property out to a convicted murderer and criminal, and one who has not paid a penny to his victims?

And this judge, Luis Mondlane, knows the case very well. For he is a member of the Supreme Court, and sat on the Supreme Court panel which judged (and rejected) Satar’s appeal against his conviction in the Cardoso assassination case.

Satar boasts on his Facebook page that he is paying Mondlane rent of 15,000 US dollars a month, and that he has rented other up-market Maputo properties “for my 40 bodyguards”.

What does Beatriz Buchili have to say about any of this? Nothing at all, to judge from her report. But as head of the country’s prosecution services, she has it in her power to insist that Satar serve his sentence for the BCM fraud, and pay the compensation ordered by the court.