Good afternoon. Website Carta de Moçambique found black comedy at the weekend in an instruction from the desk of national police commander Bernardino Rafael, ordering his subordinates to come up with recommendations for how to tackle the problem of police involvement in crime, specifically robberies and kidnappings. For Carta, this is “Bernardino at his worst”. Responsibility for police criminality lies with Rafael, it goes on, for not taking steps to crack down on it, for example by bringing in technical assistance from foreign countries.
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The latest from Zitamar News:
Vast illegal timber exports to China help finance Mozambique’s insurgency, says report
Insurgent-linked timber exports are part of a wider trade in which hundreds of thousands of tonnes of timber are being illegally exported to China every year
Tom Gould
From the Zitamar Live Blog:
Zitamar Mozambique Live Blog
Frelimo’s newly selected presidential candidate Daniel Chapo has been appointed interim secretary general of the party, following the resignation of Roque Silva on 5 May. Chapo will hold the post until a new secretary general is elected at a meeting of the Central Committee, according to the attached statement from the Political Commission.
Zitamar Mozambique Live Blog
The Council of the European Union has extended the mandate of the EU Training Mission in Mozambique until 30 June 2026, it said today, with a budget of more than €14 million for the period. The Council has also approved the mission’s transition from a training to an assistance model, combining advising, mentoring and specialised training in support of the units of the quick reaction force (QRF) of the Mozambican armed forces. As a consequence of this change, made “to adapt the strategic objectives of the mission to new circumstances,” the mission will be renamed EU Military Assistance Mission Mozambique (EUMAM Mozambique), as of 1 September 2024. EUTM Mozambique was set up in July 2021 to train and support the Mozambican armed forces fighting the violent insurgency in Cabo Delgado province, providing training in particular for the units of the Mozambican armed forces that have then become part of the QRF. Full statement: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2024/05/14/mozambique-council-extends-the-mandate-of-the-eu-training-mission-until-2026-and-paves-the-way-for-its-evolution-into-a-eu-military-assistance-mission/
