UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER
Mozambique News Online (6) - 08/25/97

Mozambique News Online (6) - 08/25/97

MOZAMBIQUE NEWS ONLINE/MOZAMBIQUE NEWS ONLINE/MOZAMBIQUE NEWS ONLINE

Edition #6 25 August 1997

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A fortnightly update of news from Mozambique!

MOZAMBIQUE NEWS ONLINE is written by Mozambican journalists living in Mozambique and brings you the news from their point of view. It is assembled and edited by Africa News Network, part of South Africa Contact, the former anti-apartheid movement in Denmark and publishers of i'Afrika, a quarterly magazine concentrating on Southern Africa.

MOZAMBIQUE NEWS ONLINE joins ZAMBIA NEWS ONLINE, MALAWI NEWS ONLINE, TANZANIA NEWS ONLINE and ZIMBABWE NEWS ONLINE in providing up to date news, at very reasonable subscription rates, from our established network of journalists in Southern Africa. These newsletters will be followed, in the very near future, by individual news updates from other countries in the region.

MOZAMBIQUE NEWS ONLINE is brought to you through a co-operation between South Africa Contact and Inform, Denmark's leading alternative information network.

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In this edition:

Feature:

IMPENDING DROUGHT THREAT TO MOZAMBIQUE

Stories:

1. MEDICINAL PLANTS IDENTIFIED IN AIDS TREATMENT

2. IRON REDUCTION PLANT FOR BEIRA CITY

3. BUSINESSMEN UP IN ARMS OVER TAX EXEMPTIONS

4. POVERTY HELP TO NON-EXISTANT 50,000

5. BANK WORKERS TO BE FIRED

6. HASH SEIZED IN QUISSANGA

7. STRIKERS ACCUSE DIRECTOR OF STEALING

8. FAITH IN WATER SPIRITS

9. KWACHA VS. METICAL

10. NEW MOZAMBIQUE SOCCER STAR?

FEATURE:

IMPENDING DROUGHT THREAT TO MOZAMBIQUE

Mozambique is likely to face a new drought during the 1997/98 farming season. Organisations involved in the country's food security say plans are under way to reduce the negative effect of the expected calamity which comes just after what they describe as a 'very good' harvest campaign. Indications are that Mozambique has harvested more than one million tonnes of maize, ten percent above the 1996 record production of 947 thousand tonnes.

The regional Food Security Unit says the 1996/97 maize crop is an all-time high achievement for Mozambique. The Government is now working together with national and international NGOs and institutions of the United Nations in Mozambique to work out a plan aimed at lessening the impact of drought due to the expected El-Nino effect on the Southern African region.

The Government, through the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, has started a programme to make people aware of the possibility of the disaster. Under the programme, which focuses on the small farming sector, agricultural advisors inform the peasants about the imminence of the calamity using previous situations as reference, encouraging them to cultivate crops resistant to drought such as cassava and millet. Peasants are also encouraged to use the humid areas along the valleys of Mozambique, to grow vegetables.

"We tell people about the negative effects of drought in the loss of crops and reduction of profit, its effect in the reduction of seed stock and of livestock," said SÈrgio Gouveia, National Director of Agriculture. He added that drought situations have various economic and social implications saying that it could also cause movement of people from their traditional homes in search of better conditions. He also said district and administrative officials and community leaders were involved in the awareness campaigns so that they could reach out to as many people as possible.

Other government institutions at the central level are the Ministry for Coordination of Environment, the Department for the Prevention and Combating of Natural Disasters (DPCCN), and the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism through its department of Food Security.

The DPCCN, which is the unit responsible for the prevention and combating of disasters, is now monitoring the situation throughout the country. A senior official of the institutions says all the provincial departments have been instructed to design plans to prepare for the possibility of the food crisis. "We are still involved in assisting the victims of the floods which affected mostly the central and northern region at the beginning of the year," said Mr. Joao Zamisse. He said that the affected populations in the Cabo Delgdo, Niassa and Tete provinces might need food assistance until the first harvest of the 1997-98 farming season. "These regions were hit by floods during the first quarter of the year which was immediately followed by a period of drought. The second harvest of the 1996/97 campaign has been declared lost and these people already need free food assistance," said Zamissa.

Negomano, in the Cabo Delgado province, was affected by a dry spell following planting in November and December last year, which lasted until January. This was followed in the subsequent months by heavy rains which destroyed some crops, particularly those grown along the river valleys.

Results of assessments made by the Mozambican government and United Nations agencies working on crop supply, indicate that the drought in the northern districts of Cabo Delgado along the Tanzanian border extends well into Tanzania. Negomano had been cut off from the rest of the province for long periods since the liberation struggle during the 60s or 70s. Food had sometimes to be ferried often taking 12 days to reach the isolated area. JosÈ LuÌs Castro, head of the World Food Programme's northern regional sub office, says there were once no roads to Negomano. Then the Government authorities in Pemba used tractors to open a roadway, and followed this with trucks carrying food supplies and medicines. The second convoy sent to Negomano last month took three days to complete the journey. Costs of the Negomano operation are estimated at about US$11 000. The tripartite mission is now discussing new ways to conduct relief operations.

The WFP is already committed to providing 27 tonnes of urgently needed maize, beans and vegetable oil for the 3600 drought victims living in Negomano and the seven hamlets that surround it. The WFP is to deliver the food as far as the city of Mueda, about 400 km from Pemba. There the food will be stored under the responsibility of the DPCCN, who are in charge of transporting it along the rough routes to the affected areas. "There is the need to involve the local communities in the creation of better conditions to transport relief to their areas," said Domenico Scalpelli of the WFP. This means that organizations involved in the operation must carry out a new evaluation of the situation to determine which groups of population would need free assistance and those who would be integrated under the work for food program.

1. MEDICINAL PLANTS IDENTIFIED IN AIDS TREATMENT

Two medicinal plants were recently identified in Mozambique as effective in AIDS treatment. Both plants, the name of which have not been disclosed, are abundant in all Mozambique. They had been taken to Europe for laboratory tests, with satisfactory results.

According to Doctor Adelaide Agostinho of the Medicinal Plants Department at the Ministry of Health, Mozambique has medicinal plants for treatment of several diseases. "We'll continue our research on these plants, instead of waiting for solutions from outside our country," she said. Apart from the two plants, another 11 plants were identified by the Ministry of Health as useful for the treatment of diseases like diarrhoea, asthma and some sexually transmitted diseases.

2. IRON REDUCTION PLANT FOR BEIRA CITY

A project for iron reduction could be installed at Beira city in central Mozambique in the near future and become one of the world's largest undertakings of its kind. The project due is to be realised by the South African company JCI Limited (Johannesburg Consolidated Investment Company Limited), which wants to make use of the low production and transport costs as well as the largest reserves of natural gas in the Temane and Buzi regions of Sofala province.

The project is believed to be the best way to use the natural gas potential existing in the region. The Mozambique government invited ARCO (Atlantic Richfield Company USA), to the Temane region, and Leopardos Resources and Scimitar Hydrocarbons(Canada), to the Buzi region. Investigations done by these companies have shown that there is the potential of about three trillion cubic meters of gas in the Temane region, which is more than enough for the work of an iron reduction factory.

3. BUSINESSMEN UP IN ARMS OVER TAX EXEMPTIONS

Local business man are angry with the government after its decision to facilitate the opening of a shopping centre by providing tax exemptions on the centre's "first portion" of goods. The shopping centre is "SHOPRITE CHECKERS," a well known South African chain with branches in several countries of the Southern African region.

The government says that the policy of exemption from tax would benefit the consumers by reducing the price of goods and making the market more competitive. However, local businessmen do not agree with this, saying that all the formal and informal markets will disappear when competing with a giant like "Shoprite". 'Nobody says how much is the "first portion" that is free of taxes. Shoprite could bring hundreds of thousands of dollars in goods, hundreds of lorries, for the first portion,'an unidentified businessman said.

"If the "first portion" is well controlled and the prices not very different from the normal market, there is no problem," said Mr. Alberto da Barca, president of the Commercial Association of Mozambique. But the problem is in that control, and after a wave of protests government has said that "only goods on shelves on the first day will be free of taxes".

4. POVERTY HELP TO NON-EXISTANT 50,000

The Mozambique state lost $16 billion "meticais"(local currency), when they paid poverty relief subsidies to more than 50.000 people who do not exist. This situation took place last year, according to the Deputy Minister of Planning and Finance, Ms. Luisa Diogo.

An audit made by Government concluded that only 35.000 people had the right to the subsidies in a listed group of 90.000 people.

5. BANK WORKERS TO BE FIRED

More than 1500 workers of the recently privatised Commercial Bank of Mozambique (BCM), could lose their jobs due to the reorganisation of the Bank.

According to Helena Ferro of the Union of Bank Workers, the situation is 'shameful' because there is only a law which protects the employers. "They can rescind our contracts and when we demand our rights, they throw this law in our faces," she said.

The bank workers join the more than 90.000 workers forced into unemployment due to provisoes recommended by the IMF/WB.

6. HASH SEIZED IN QUISSANGA

A haul of 11 tonnes of hashish was seized by the police in the Quissanga district of Cabo Delgado province, northern Mozambique. From where the hashish came is not known but it is believed to have been unloaded from a large ship at sea and transferred to dry land in small boats.

Nine people, who have not been identified, are already under arrest in connection with the case. Police have not released their names so as not to interfere with the investigations underway.

The hashish is in bars and packed in bags with names like Pakistan, India and Colombia. "A nutritional product" was also printed on the bags. This is the second case of narcotics seizure in Mozambique. The first one, two years ago in Maputo, consisted of 40 tonnes. That case ended with the hashish being burned and no one being charged.

Mozambique is well known as a corridor for drugs and weapons due to its borders being poorly supervised.

7. STRIKERS ACCUSE DIRECTOR OF STEALING

Strikers at the National Data Processing Centre (CPD), in Maputo have accused their director of stealing a computer. Orlando Come had to spend several hours in police custody while the charge was investigated. The media used the workers as a source and on the following day many were saying that the CPD director had been jailed for robbery.

"I wasn't in detention. I just went there while enquiries were made, as the workers had been to police to denounce me as a robber," said Mr. Come. The CPD director explained that he went to the Centre, which was closed by the workers on strike, to lock the server in order to protect all the data in the computers. "I took a printer in order to be able to continue the job away from the CPD, because we work for thousands of people," he said.

CPD processes the salaries of more than 200.000 people, including civil servants, military, retired people. They are also involved with state taxes. The strike has lasted for nearly two weeks. One of the workers' demands is for their integration into the Ministry of Planning and Finance. This strike could affect other areas if there is a delay in the payment of salaries .

8. FAITH IN WATER SPIRITS

In Inhambane in south Mozambique, there is a father who five years after a shipwreck still believes that his daughter will came back from the deep waters of Inhambane bay.

In south Mozambique, there is a belief in "water spirits" which can catch a person and turn them into a healer. During the "training" with the spirits , the chosen person remains under the sea. According to some people in south Mozambique, in order that the person is able to come back to normal life, it is necessary to hold a traditional ceremony, a "bewitching".

"I have spent a lot of money for two ceremonies but these "water spirits" are too strong, and we failed. Now I'm trying again because we saw my daughter seated on a rock, down there in the sea," the father of the girl said.

For this third ceremony, the father invited people to a very expensive and, he believed, powerful bewitching. He said, however, that again nothing happened after many mystical acts and the beating of drums through the night on the beach. The father has not given up hope and says that he will keep waiting.

9. KWACHA VS. METICAL

In the Milange district of central Zambezia province, the national currency , the METICAL, is not used. Instead, in its place, the Malawi currency, the KWACHA is the favoured currency.

According to one Milange dweller, the local population does most of their shopping in Malawi, coming and going by bicycle. They sell their goods in Milange using Kwachas. No one accepts the Metical. "We don't have shops here in Milange, this is the reason," explained the resident.

President Chissano, who recently visited the Zambezia province and the Milange district, recognised that border control is not efficient. There are only two borders guards in the area. Milange had a good harvest of maize last season, a surplus which still remains to be sold. To cover their needs in other products, especially the manufactured ones, the Milange people take maize to sell in Malawi, and in return they buy other products for resale in their regions.

Milange district, one of the largest districts of Zambezia province and a big tea producer, borders Malawi.

10. NEW MOZAMBIQUE SOCCER STAR?

Francisco Macuacua, age 15, could in the near future become a Dutch soccer star. He recently passed a test made by EMMEN, an important soccer club in the Netherlands. Macuacua might play soccer with the Erika Club, a satellite team of EMMEN.

Francisco Macuacua is one of 166 streetkids making up the "Street School," a project led by Rene Boezard, directed to give education, orientation and support to street kids. "Street School," has a football team through an agreement with a local soccer club, Grupo Desportivo de Maputo, and it was here that Francisco Macuacua started to shine. It was Mr. Boezzard who was responsible for taking Francisco to the Netherlands.

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From: AfricaNN@inform-bbs.dk (Africa_news Network) Date: Mon, 25 Aug 1997 14:42:57 +0200 Subject: MOZAMBIQUE NEWS ONLINE #6 Message-ID: <1032183805.140928895@inform-bbs.dk>

Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar

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