Welcome to Zitamar’s daily Mozambique briefing for 11 October 2017.
The latest from Zitamar News:
Mozambique government heads to India to solve pigeon pea stalemate
The race is on to export as much pigeon pea to India as possible – and consume as much as possible at home – before this year’s huge crop goes to waste.
Mozambique energy ministry under pressure over oil and gas license delays
The leading transparency NGO has called on the energy and mineral resources minister to explain long delays in awarding exploration and production contracts to the winners of Mozambique’s 5th oil and gas licensing round.
The best of the rest:
Mozambican maritime security companies slam Kroll audit (Bloomberg)
Mozambique’s three maritime security companies – ProIndicus, EMATUM, and MAM – have written to the Attorney General through their lawyer in Mozambique, Alexandre Chivane, to defend themselves from allegations made in the Kroll audit of their activities and the way they were established. In the letter, seen by Bloomberg, they claim the entire maritime security project funded by $2bn in loans “was public from day one,” and blame the government for delays in getting it up and running.
Chivale – whose law firm was established this year, according to its website – is a key member of a group of Guebuza supporters known as the G40, and accompanied the former President when he testified at the parliamentary inquiry into the debts at the end of last year. The letter apparently also disputes Kroll’s claim that it was given incomplete documentation by the three companies, which remains a stumbling block for IMF re-engagement with Mozambique.
Decentralisation law should be passed in March 2018 – Dhlakama (DW)
Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama has told German broadcaster DW that he expects a law on decentralisation to be approved by parliament between January and March next year. If it becomes law at that point, it will allow President Filipe Nyusi to announce the date of 2019’s national elections in next April, with the new legislation in place.
Until then, Mozambique will be on tenterhooks waiting to see if a deal really is possible between both sides. Renamo has said that a definitive peace deal will not be signed until the decentralisation law has passed through parliament. If the March timetable is met it would also allow Dhlakama to emerge triumphant from the bush in time for a six-month campaign for 2018’s municipal elections.
Mocimboa extremists have been known since 2014 (AIM, O País, MediaFax)
The local community in Mocimboa da Praia, the northern port town attacked by an unidentified group last week, has been home to a group of Islamist extremists since at least 2014, according to locals speaking to O País. The group consists essentially of young Mozambicans, mostly from Mocimboa, some of whom have trained at Koranic schools in Saudi Arabia and Sudan, according to news agency AIM. Mediafax reports that the police are blaming local courts for not taking action on occasions that the police have arrested suspected terrorists in the area.
Cholera outbreak on Nampula coast now ‘under control’ (AIM)
The Mozambican Ministry of Health announced on Tuesday that an outbreak of cholera in Memba district, on the coast of the northern province of Nampula, is now under control. 109 cases were diagnosed and one person died in the outbreak, according to the ministry. Nationwide five people have died of cholera this year so far, according to official statistics.
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