Maputo, 27 Feb (AIM) – Mozambican President Daniel Chapo has once again compared the recent violent protests in Mozambican cities with the raids by islamist terrorists that have plagued the northern province of Cabo Delgado.
Speaking on Wednesday in the Cabo Delgado district of Palma, Chapo said the only difference between violent rioters and the jihadists was that the former operate in the cities and the latter in the countryside.
“What is happening here when the terrorists attack markets and stalls, when they have logistical problems, or when they are almost dying of hunger, is also happening in our cities”, Chapo claimed. “They are attacking shops, they are burning petrol pumps, they are burning warehouses, including medical stores, they are burning everything that belongs to the public, including schools and hospitals. It’s no different from what is happening here in the Northern Operational Theatre”.
He said today’s riots “have brought a gospel of hatred between Mozambicans”, which might lead to “urban terrorism”.
As on previous occasions during his three day visit to Cabo Delgado, Chapo said the country faced three threats – the islamist terrorism in parts of Cabo Delgado, attacks by the peasant militia known as the Naparamas, and violent and illegal streets protests in the cities.
The protesters, he claimed, had taken advantage of last October’s general elections “to perpetrate macabre acts against the public”.
The riots have left a trail of destruction. According to the government’s figures, the rioters left in ruins 177 schools, 27 health units,19 factories, 23 warehouses, 1,677 shops, 293 public buildings, 194 government houses, 108 private homes and hundreds of vehicles, including 23 ambulances.
The Confederation of Mozambican Business Associations (CTA) calculates that the riots have thrown 17,000 workers out of their jobs.
The riots were not spontaneous outbursts of popular anger. An investigation by the independent television station STV in the southern province of Gaza, showed that the rioters are organised, with provincial and district coordinators.
They may proclaim allegiance to former presidential candidate Venancio Mondlane, but it is the local coordinators who set the targets. Clearly they did not believe they were doing anything wrong, since they allowed themselves to be recorded and filmed.
They disowned any violence and looting – yet the protests in Gaza which they boasted of organising have seen some of the worst rioting in the country.
(AIM)
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