Mozambique: CIP director says mercenaries will invoice for the prolonged war in Cabo Delgado – Sala da Paz

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Mozambique: CIP director says mercenaries will invoice for the prolonged war in Cabo Delgado – Sala da Paz

1:52 CAT | 18 Aug 2020

File photo: Sala da Paz

The Director of the Centre for Public Integrity (CIP), Edson Cortez, told the Magazine Independente in a recent interview that mercenaries would profit from the prolongation of the war in Cabo Delgado, and their use would therefore not help resolve the armed conflict there.

“The survival of the mercenaries depends on their being war, so the longer the conflict lasts, the more money they earn. So, I think that trusting victory in battle to mercenaries is the same as leaving your home in the hands of a thief: all he wants is to see you turn your back, and then take everything that is yours,” Cortez said.

Cortez says the government should use the Defence and Security Forces and enlist the cooperation of neighbouring governments by persuading them how dangerous the spread of the conflict would be for the whole region. “But it is up to the government to understand the causes of this conflict and then to change public policies in order to reduce social inequalities. Maputo cannot continue to be the country’s only development pocket. The other provinces need to feel like they are part of this country, and that we all have the same rights,” he said.

Cortez warned in the interview that the country risked losing control of the exploitation of natural resources in the northern province as a result of the conflict.

“If this climate of disorder persists, at least at the level of Cabo Delgado, we will have serious difficulties controlling the resources being extracted there. The multinationals will shield themselves with high security equipment and extract the resources at will, but I doubt that the National Petroleum Institute has the technical capacity and resources to land in Pemba and take a helicopter to the exploration areas. So they will have to rely on the information that the multinationals make available when collecting revenues,” he warned.

Source: Sala da Paz