February updates

Wednesday 26th February

Protests

The situation is not changing that much regarding protests at the moment. When and where they happen is very fluid and hard to predict, but there are hotspots where protests and roadblocks are common. These were outlined in my update on the 14th of February.
If you look at that update it means that travelling around Mozambique via road is becoming challenging. The police try to stop roadblocks, often with bullets. Avoid protests and roadblocks at all costs if the police or army are present. There are reports that yesterday the police injured several students while shooting near a school.

Club of Mozambique reports that some tourist resorts were invaded by protestors in Bilene

Political Update

I do not want this to be regularly an update about politics, it is about safety. But the politics does impact the safety situation and so at this time, I think an update is important.

Venancio Mondlane has now fully split from the party that he stood for in the presidential elections (and who are speaking to the new president without him). Mondlane is in the process of setting up his political party. Zitamar News thinks this is a sign he now has his sights on the next presidential elections.

Mondalane continues to move around the country. Multiple social media posts show the streets filling with his supporters on every visit.

One of Mondalane’s requests of the government is that they reduce the cost of living. They have done some work on VAT exemption of basic goods to help with this.

There have been several moves by the new president Chapo and the security services that could upset Mondlane’s supporters. The security services recently shot at the gate of his public relations advisor, although he was not at home.

Chapo has recently been on a trip to Cabo Delgado where he took part in an interview with government-controlled media. This is being shown across social media. Sections of the speech are being re-posted by Mondalane. In these sections Chapo talks about the protestors being like terrorists and talks about using force to stop them. In combination with this TV Sucesso is reporting that the chief of police has stated that he is ready to locate and criminally hold the organizers of the demonstrations. However, Chapo is stating that his words were taken out of context.

Visitor Safety

The article on visitor safety is here

Monday 17th February

The level of protest increased yesterday. Recently there have been several roadblocks around the country, but they have tended to be uncoordinated and happen at different unpredictable times. Yesterday there were a large number of road blocks all on the same day. This is not following a speech from Mondlane and so there did not seem to be a warning in advance about them. On the same day there are multiple videos on social media of a large group of people in Ponta Do Ouro moving between shops, bars and restaurants with evidence in the videos of damage being caused. This does not seem to be reported on news websites but there are enough videos on social media from different sources to be credible.

Roadblocks

Canal Moz reported several roadblocks yesterday including Namaacha (one of the routes to Eswatini
They then reported a roadblock at Macia on the N1 (at the turn-off for Bilene) along with a roadblock on the road from Maputo to Ponta Do Ouro, which blocked access to Ponta Do Ouro and the Kosi Bay border.

There was then a further report of a roadblock in Xai-Xai.
TV Sucesso was reporting roadblocks in Chongoene, Limpopo and Chockwe.
There was also a roadblock in the centre of Maputo for a time yesterday as reported by Club of Mozambique.
There have been multiple unconfirmed reports on social media about the nature of these roadblocks. There are claims that the protestors went further than blocking the road and did not let cars that had arrived at the roadblock turn around and leave. This has not been picked up by news agencies, and does not seem to have been reported before as a tactic.

Friday 14th Feb

There has been little news to report since last week.
The amount of violence is still low compared to December’s protests. But there is still disruption in several places and for several reasons, all linked to Mondlanes’ demands regarding what should happen in the first 100 days of government.

As with last week disruption is very liquid, coming and going quickly, so keeping you up to date with every incident is not possible. A lack of good reporting of the disruption is also an issue.

But there are some recurring locations which seem prone to problems.

Toll booths

One of Mondlane’s demands was that road tolls are not charged for these 100 days. Tolls have become chaotic noisy places. There is always lots of hooting. Some tolls are not collecting money, some are damaged. They have the potential, and have, become areas of protest.

N1 and other roads

N1 at Bobole, Macia (turn off for Bilene), and other locations. The N1 has a variety of locations where roadblocks are likely. These come and go on a very regular basis, and they can become violent when the police arrive to clear them.

Dugongo Cement factory (Maputo to Ponta Do Ouro Road). The road is regularly blocked here. This is a protest (as are others on the N1) about the price of cement which Mondlane has demanded is reduced.

Borders

Borders are not currently being specifically targeted, but the toll booths on the road from Ressano Garcia and Boanne (on the route from both eSwatini borders) being another flash point, means that disruption can and does affect the borders.

When does the 100-day period end?

This is around the 26th of April. Be prepared for potentially larger disruption and protests around this date.

Wednesday 5th February

Things are continuing with the “new normal” in Mozambique. This means a period that is calmer than we had in November and December. There have been less mass protests on the streets and less deaths. But, things are by no means as they were before this election began.

Where are we politically?

Daniel Chapo from Frelimo (the party that has ruled Mozambique since independence) is President. Venancio Mondlane who is an opposition leader has proclaimed himself the President. He has no official power but has a lot of popular support.
Mondlane has issued a list of things that must be done in the first 100 days of office. This includes things like, road tolls should not be charged and the release of some prisoners. Twenty-five items in all. Most disruption, violence and protests that break out are usually based on issues raised in this list of demands. One Hundred days from the presidential inauguration will be the 26th of April. As it is not possible to deliver all 25 of Mondlane’s demands by that date, at this time there may be a return to more large-scale protests.

What is happening on the ground?

It is harder to keep you up to date with what is happening on the ground than it was before the inauguration. Previously, protests were generally organised and announced by Mondlane. At present protests are typically very localised and shortlived, so very hard to predict. As I reported last week there were protests about paying for tolls. This week there has been less violence at tolls, but tolls are currently messy confusing places with some tolls being collected and many people refusing to pay tolls. This means at any given time tolls can have queues, can have people travelling through the wrong lanes, can be blocked, or can be not collecting the tolls.
Roadblocks have been coming and going. For example yesterday there were multiple reports on social media that the road was blocked at Bobole due to a protest about the price of cement. There was another roadblock at Macia on the N1 (the turnoff for Bilene)  about lack of electricity connections to houses. Both of these issues are listed on Mondlane’s list. But so are many more issues.
So far, these localised protests have been generally blocking roads, which includes access to borders. But they are very hard to predict as they can pop up at short notice, making travel around the country challenging. More than ever it is important to check WhatsApp groups, Social media and news before travelling. But, even then, many roadblocks and protests cause disruption, but go unreported.