Good afternoon. The amended electoral law that has just been approved by parliament (see below) is probably as good as could be expected. It is a slight improvement on the previous law, but even if it is followed to the letter, it still leaves plenty of room for ruling party Frelimo to steal elections (in particular, the presidential, parliamentary and provincial elections this October) without breaking the law. The full Daily Briefing continues below for Pro subscribers. Subscribers to the Zitamar News tier can read the top half, including the full leader article, here. From the Zitamar Live ..read more

Good afternoon. Last week saw a milestone which the government would prefer never to have reached: the first attack by Islamic State-backed insurgents in Nampula province for over a year and a half, as we reported yesterday. Local people clearly believe that the insurgents intend to press further into the province: some have fled from Memba district, which borders the frontier district of Eráti where last week’s attacks took place, including from the village of Chipene, where in 2022 a Catholic mission was attacked and a nun killed. The full Daily Briefing continues below for Pro subscribers ..read more

Islamic State-backed insurgents killed at least one person last Thursday during their first incursion into Nampula province since September 2022. Insurgents crossed the Lúrio river from Cabo Delgado province into Nampula by boat on Thursday and attacked the villages of Mithoca, Nassua and Manica in the Odinepa administrative post of Eráti district. Islamic State (IS) claimed to have killed one person in Nassua and burned 190 homes.  IS also claimed to have burned a church, a school and 30 homes in Manica and to have clashed with Mozambican security forces in Mithoca. Many in Odinepa and ..read more

Good afternoon. Last week, Portugal’s president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa made some unplanned, casual remarks to journalists at a dinner, during events commemorating the 50th anniversary of the overthrow of the Portuguese dictatorship. He suggested that Portugal ought to start preparing to make reparations to its former colonies. The comments were picked up and reported in the Portuguese media, causing the government to issue a statement saying that it enjoyed good relations with the ex-colonies and had no plans for issuing reparations. The full Daily Briefing continues below for Pro subscriber ..read more

Good afternoon. Today we publish the findings of an investigation into illegal fishing practices by Chinese companies, which provides details of an extraordinary amount of abuses — not just abuses of the laws on fishing and environmentally damaging practices, but also shocking human rights abuses against Mozambicans unlucky enough to work for them. The full Daily Briefing continues below for Pro subscribers. Subscribers to the Zitamar News tier can read the top half, including the full leader article, here. The latest from Zitamar News: New Fatality Estimate for the 2021 Attack on Palma, Mo ..read more

China’s overseas fishing fleet is committing human rights abuses and carrying on illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing practices in Mozambican waters, and victimising Mozambican fishermen and the coastal communities they support, according to an NGO report published this month. China is responsible for systemic human rights abuses and illegal… China is responsible for systemic human rights abuses and illegal fishing across the Southwest Indian Ocean. Environmental Justice FoundationEJF Staff The report from the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) found a wide range of alleged of ..read more

Article taken from Cabo Ligado Monthly: March 2024 Cabo Ligado Monthly: March 2024 — Cabo Ligado March At A Glance Vital Stats ACLED records nine political violence events in Cabo Delgado in March, resulting in at least 21 reported fatalities.  Four of these events were incidents targeting civilians, perpetrated by ISM, FADM, or the Naparama militia. Vital Trends Cabo LigadoCabo Ligado On 24 March 2021, an Islamist militia affiliated with Islamic State launched a coordinated attack on the city of Palma in Mozambique. Battles between the Islamist militants and security forces last ..read more

Underneath the surface, the Mozambican government resents how it is treated by its neighbour ..read more

Good afternoon. Complaints by attorney-general Beatriz Buchili that South Africa is not cooperating on kidnappings (see below) are symptomatic of a wider resentment the Mozambican government feels towards its neighbour. In public, ministers maintain that the South Africans are their friends and comrades, but in private, both they and officials think that the government in Pretoria treats them with a lack of respect. The full Daily Briefing continues below for Pro subscribers. Subscribers to the Zitamar News tier can read the top half, including the full leader article, here. The latest from Z ..read more

A charity run by women in Mozambique’s northern Nampula province has donated over $37,000 worth of aid to victims of the war in Gaza. The Muslim women’s organisation Fih Sabilillah has so far raised $37,920 from the local community to buy drinking water, food, baby milk and nappies. Around $1,800 was raised for gifts for children for Eid al-Fitr, the festival marking the end of Ramadan. The aid has reached at least 200 families with a minimum of two children each. The aid has been delivered to the southern Gazan cities of Khan Younis and Rafah, which have both been devastated by Israeli bombi ..read more