Hundreds flee Tete province amid renewed fighting in Mozambique

Reports indicate that hundreds of Mozambicans are fleeing into Malawi’s Mwanza district amid growing hostilities in the neighbouring country between the government and opposition RENAMO, according to Zodiak Malawi on Saturday, July 11.The affected areas include Mkondezi, Monjo and Angonia. Reports also indicate the hostilities are spreading to Angonia Province.Mwanza District Council has since raised a security alert after receiving about 700 people seeking refuge there; most of them children.Over the last couple of years Mozambique has been on the blink of a repeat of the bloody 16-year civil war that started in 1977 between the military and the opposition RENAMO.Most of the Mozambicans fleeing into Malawi are using unchartered routes, said authorities in a first report released on Thursday, July 9, by the district council signed by district commissioner Gift Rapozo.“There are about 678 Mozambicans, mostly children at 415 that have been recorded as seeking asylum as a result of the civil unrest that broke out last week Friday on 3rd July,” said the report.The refugees are mostly camped at Kasipe II in the area of Senior Inkosi Kanduku and are coming into the country through Neno and Chikhwawa.There are fears of an increase in criminal activity as the Mozambicans have no source of livelihood and some are reported to have brought in weapons, said some sources at the council.Some of the fleeing opposition cadres are reportedly carrying some weapons from the fighting into the country [Malawi], the report has noted saying this could be a potential hazard to the country’s security.Speaking to Zodiak in an Interview, Mwanza District Council Disaster Risk and Management Desk Officer Jarvis Mwenechanya said the major challenge facing the people is food and shelter.

 He said the poor conditions they are living in have brought fears of disease outbreak. He has called on wellwishers and nongovernmental organizations to help the displaced that comprise of 113 families.A visit by Zodiak to border villages in Thambani and Mpandasoni in the area of sub traditional Authority Govati and Kasuza in Senior Chief Kanduku’s area confirmed the development.The district council has advised all chiefs and traditional leaders to register all displaced individuals for an actual scope and scale of the mass entry of the Mozambicans into Malawi.About one million people died in the 1977-1992 civil war and five million more fled to other parts of the country and abroad, including Malawi, which hosted many of the refugees.The latest fighting comes barely a year after President Filipe Nyusi was elected as the leader of the governing FRELIMO and president of Mozambique, and shortly after the country celebrated its 40 years of self-rule from Portugal.FRELIMO continues to face strong opposition from RENAMO as the party never accepted the 2014 October general election results and considers the outcome fraudulent.It has boycotted parliament and is calling for autonomy in some six provinces in the country in protest.