Maputo, 19 Feb (AIM) – The governor of the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, Valige Tauabo, has accused local journalists of tending to discredit the Mozambican armed forces (FADM) when they report about attacks by islamist terrorists in the province.
According to Tauabo, cited in the Monday issue of the independent newssheet “Carta de Moçambique”, the local reporters exaggerate and tend to give prominence to the terrorists’ incursions, to the detriment of the population and the operations of the FADM.
These reporters, he claimed, “create journalistic narratives suggesting that they are in agreement (or have signed agreements) with the terrorists in order to highlight their actions and devalue the government and the Defense and Security Forces.”
According to the governor, the narrative about the terrorist attacks given by certain journalists in the province is malicious.
“The journalists living in our province seem to have some kind of agreement with the terrorists. That is not good. We work with you and nothing is forbidden so that you can know better”, he said.
“When we provide information, it is generated in a distorted way, with a malicious slant towards our province and the people of Cabo Delgado”, Tauabo alleged.
These are claims for which the governor offered no evidence. At no point did he name a single journalist, or cite a single piece of reporting that he considered incorrect. Instead, his remarks amounted to a blanket condemnation of coverage of the war in Cabo Delgado.
The governor also denied the existence of “tollgates” or barricades set up by terrorists on the province’s roads. According to Tauabo, what happens is that terrorists take advantage of places without military coverage to extort money from the population and drivers.
This amounts to much the same thing as an informal tollgate, and some businessmen have complained of being stopped by terrorists on Cabo Delgado roads, who demand money and threaten to kill the drivers and destroy their cargoes unless they pay up.
(AIM)
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