As you drive in Mozambique you will see a lot of traffic police. They often do vehicle checks, breathalysing and speed checks. The reputation of the Mozambican police is not always a positive one. Nonetheless, if you approach them in a positive friendly way they will almost always reciprocate. The most important things when dealing with the traffic police are:

• Remain calm.
• Always be polite.
• Hold your ground if you have done nothing wrong.
• Know the rules and the mandated fines for breaking the rules.
• Never leave without all of your documents.
• Don’t pay bribes.

Where will you find traffic police?

In October 2024, the general commander of the police issued an order restricting where police checkpoints are allowed and under what conditions they may operate. We are still waiting to see if this is fully implemented. Early signs suggest it is being enforced to some extent. The restrictions mean:

• General ad-hoc police stops are not allowed unless there is a “flagrant violation of traffic rules.”
• There are specific authorized static police checkpoints, limited to 3 or 4 per province.
• Speed control points are allowed in addition to the static checkpoints, but these must:
  • Be located in an area with good visibility.
  • Be marked with cones.
  • The police must carry a certificate permitting them to be there (order of the day / ordem do dia).

Additionally, officers on motorcycles are not allowed to set up their own checkpoints.

You can find a map showing the checkpoint locations in Maputo province here

Here there is a traffic police officer on the left. He has dark blue trousers with a green stripe. He has a white shirt, although this was a cold day so he is also wearing a dark blue sweater. He has a white hat and a reflective vest. On his right is a municipal police officer. His uniform is dark green. He has a dark green hat of a very different style to the traffic police.

What usually happens when the police stop you

The police in Mozambique all speak Portuguese. Some, but by no means all, will speak a little English. It is best if you pick the best Portuguese speaker in your car to talk with them. After initial polite greetings, the police will usually glance at your windscreen (to check the documents shown there) and then ask for some documents. They will almost universally ask for your driving license (carteira) and Livrette (standard Mozambican car document). If you are driving a South African or other foreign car, they will ask for your Temporary Import Permit (TIP) you obtained at the point of entry to the country. They may also ask for your certificate of insurance (seguro) – this must be issued in Mozambique and acts as a type of road tax as well as insurance, radio license and vehicle check document (this is a certificate of roadworthiness obtained annually). All of these should be printed and in your car. I had on one occasion forgotten to print my insurance and showed a copy on my phone, but accepting this is at the officer’s discretion.. Ensure that you get all of your documents back. I strongly recommend not letting them out of your sight, particularly your driving license. If they walk away from the car with the documents, go with them, but also bear in mind they have a right to look at the originals and attempts to refuse to hand over documents or only showing copies can be seen as disrespectful and cause further problems.
The police may only keep Mozambican driving licenses. They may threaten to hold onto your license until you do something, like pay a fine at the local police station. But they have no right to do this. Just ensure you firmly but politely let them know they have no right to keep your license. Do bear in mind the police officer will usually hang onto your license until the end of the discussion and as long as it remains in sight this is nothing to worry about. 

Speeding

Speeding (actual or otherwise) is a common reason for being stopped by the Mozambican police. Firstly, please do follow the rules of the road in Mozambique and stick to the speed limit. If the police do accuse you of speeding they will have a camera. The first thing you need to do is ask to see the image. They will take you to the speed gun and scroll through the images they have captured. This image will be very low quality and it can be hard to tell if it is your car beyond the color and rough shape. But it is not their fault that the images on the speed guns are poor. If the image looks like your car and has the right time and speed stamp, it is probably you. If they cannot produce an image then they cannot charge you.

What to do if you have done something wrong

Be clear in your own head which rule it is you have broken. In Mozambique there is a very clear set of fines and punishments for specific offences. There is an article coming soon outlining these. Most offences are punishable by a fine and most fines will be issued on the spot. Some can be issued and need to be paid at a later date at a police station. I recommend trying to avoid these as they are recorded and can be very difficult to actually pay.

You need to be in clear agreement with the police officer what it is that you have done wrong and what the fine is. You then need to ensure you pay the official fine and get the official paperwork (see the blog on bribery and corruption). The police may try to then negotiate a bribe in place of the official fine, explaining it will be much simpler if you pay them a smaller amount and then everything will go away. Please do not pay bribes. Bribing police officers is illegal. If you are a foreigner in Mozambique it encourages the officers to stop and try to extract bribes from other foreigners. It can take a little time to persuade them that you would like to pay the official fine.
The paperwork for the fine is long. It’s an A4 form in triplicate with a lot of information that the officer will fill in. They will often do this very slowly in the hope that you pay them a bribe instead of waiting. If they do fill in all of the form, hand over the money and ensure you get the official receipt which is a tear off section at the bottom of the form. It is relatively rare for a police officer to go as far as to issue an official fine. Most will say you can go before completing the form. Some officers will then follow you to the car in the hope that you may give them money. Please do not.