Welcome to a free sample of Zitamar’s Daily Briefing on Mozambique, which goes to paying subscribers every day.
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Agenda:
- Tomorrow: The 53 mayors elected in last October’s elections take office
The latest from Zitamar News:
Returned refugees say they live in peace with Renamo, despite claims to contrary
Zitamar visited Nkondezi in Tete province where Renamo soldiers have been accused of mistreating locals. Our reporter found no evidence of that - and the UNHCR is also treating the claims with scepticism.
Head of INP accused of abuse of power and falsifying documents
INP head Carlos Zacarias is facing legal action for allegedly falsifying documents and abusing his position
The best of the rest:
- Constitutional Council rejects government bid to block Araujo as Quelimane mayor (Zitamar Live Blog, Jornal Txopela, Magazine Independente)
- Police beat demonstrators, hospitalise journalist at pro-Renamo march in Quelimane (VoA, DW, RFI, O País)
- Cahora Bassa Hydro to list on stock exchange this quarter (Notícias)
- Protester shot dead in Manica organ harvesting riot (APA News, O País)
Constitutional Council rejects government bid to block Araujo as Quelimane mayor (Zitamar Live Blog, Jornal Txopela, Magazine Independente)
Mozambique’s Constitutional Council yesterday rejected a request from Mozambique’s Prime Minister to rule Manuel de Araújo ineligible to take office as mayor of Quelimane tomorrow - saying it has already pronounced him the winner of October’s election, and its pronouncements cannot be appealed or reversed. The government’s request was based in the fact that Araújo had been dismissed as mayor before the end of the previous term, for having switched parties from the MDM to Renamo; and a mayor who doesn’t see out his term then cannot run again at the next election. But the CC said the government, and the MDM who made a similar request, were too late.
It’s yet another decision by the referees of Mozambican democracy that’s based purely on procedural grounds rather than an attempt to uphold the spirit of democracy. This time, at least, the decision taken did mean the choice of the voters was respected. The Council of Ministers, on the other hand, has been embarrassed and poorly advised.
Police beat demonstrators, hospitalise journalist at pro-Renamo march in Quelimane (VoA, DW, RFI, O País)
Police broke up a march in support of Manuel de Araújo in Quelimane almost as soon as it started, arresting 15 demonstrators, beating others, and firing weapons into the air. Journalist Nhama Matabicho of Diário da Zambézia was among those beaten, saw his equipment confiscated by police, and had to seek treatment for his injuries at the local hospital. The police said the march was unauthorised - but the association which organised it has published the letter it sent to the police informing them of the march ahead of time.
The police in Quelimane have an awful record for violence against pro-opposition demonstrations, in a city which is an opposition stronghold. In the run-up to the 2014 general elections, they shot one pro-MDM demonstrator dead. Quelimane is not a huge city, but it’s the capital of a major province which can be expected to vote Renamo en masse in this year’s general elections - so tensions could boil over again before 2019 is out.
Today, Mozambique’s police chief Bernardino Rafael said the march in Quelimane was illegal and intended to disrupt public order.
Cahora Bassa Hydro to list on stock exchange this quarter (Notícias)
Hidroeléctrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB), the EDM-owned company which owns the giant hydropower plant in Tete province on the Zambezi river, will list on Mozambique’s stock exchange, the BVM, by the end of Q1 2019, BVM head Salim Vala said yesterday. It wants to sell 7.5% of its shares to Mozambican investors.
The planned listing was announced in November 2017 and was supposed to happen by May last year. The funds raised - which could be as much as $60 million - will be reinvested in the power plant, and may be accounted for as repaying part of EDM’s debt to the company.
Protester shot dead in Manica organ harvesting riot (APA News, O País)
One person died and scores of others were injured as police engaged in running battles with protesting residents at Messica district in Manica province on Tuesday. Violence broke out after police arrested three individuals accused of trafficking human organs. O País says one of the suspects was lynched by the local population, who then demanded the other two be released from custody so they could lynch them too. A witness told APA that a child was murdered late on Monday and the body was discovered on Tuesday, while the other remains of a murdered child was found without eyes and genitals.
Aside from the alarming phenomenon of the trade in body parts, the incident also shows yet again the lack of faith in Mozambique’s judicial institutions to bring criminals to justice.
Company Announcements
- Anadarko has announced the selection of the preferred tenderers for provision of the Subsea Production Systems. See here for their names
- ENHL-TechnipFMC Mozambique, a joint venture between TechnipFMC who is building the floating LNG platform for Eni, and ENH’s logistics arm ENHL, inaugurated their new offices in Maputo yesterday
