Rioters destroy home of Manhiça mayor

Maputo, 31 Jan (AIM) – Rioters on Wednesday attacked, looted and burnt the private home of Luis Munguambe, the Mayor of the southern Mozambican municipality of Manhica.

Munguambe told reporters that the attack was part of disturbances linked to the alleged abduction of a young man, presumably by the police, in the Palmeiras area. While the Mozambican police may well have kidnapped the youth, this has nothing to do with the local mayor, who does not control the police.

“I was at work when I heard loud noises from the police”, the mayor said in an interview with the independent television station, TV Successo .”I looked out and saw that tyres were being burned by the roadside along National Road Number 1 (EN1). I received information that a young man had been abducted, but I didn’t have many details”.

“I heard gunshots and assumed it was tear gas, so I didn’t go near. Shortly afterwards, I learned that my house was being vandalised. They were destroying it, distributing the belongings inside, and then they set it on fire,” he recounted.

The looting and destruction was comprehensive. All the rooms in the house were set on fire, as were the vehicles in the yard, including a tractor and a bus. By the time the police showed up with their tear gas grenades, it was too late.

Munguambe’s daughter told reporters that the house did not belong to the municipality. She said her father, who is a businessman in the transport area, had built it using his own savings.

Munguambe does have an official residence provided by the municipal council – but this was destroyed in the first wave of rioting in Manhica, on 23 December. The rioters, protesting against the fraudulent results from the 9 October general elections, attacked the municipal premises, the mayor’s residence, and private shops. The police failed to defend these buildings.

Munguambe said the Municipal Council is now trying to offer some basic services to citizens, operating out of an unfinished building.
(AIM)
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