Mozambique: Agostinho Vuma waiting to be heard by the authorities – Watch

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Mozambique: Agostinho Vuma waiting to be heard by the authorities – Watch

1:32 CAT | 01 Oct 2020

Screen grab: Miramar

Agostinho Vuma, the chairman of the Confederation of Economic Associations of Mozambique (CTA), who was shot in July as he left his office in Maputo, said yesterday that he had still not been notified as to when he might be required to testify about the case.

“We still don’t have any notification from the justice authorities about when I might cooperate in the case,” Vuma told a press conference in the Mozambican capital.

“To this day, after almost three months without clarification, I am still patiently hoping that the incident will be clarified” to eliminate “possible speculation” about the attack, he said.

Speaking in public yesterday for the first time since the attack, the CTA chairman declined to give details about who shot him, saying that he would speak only to the authorities, but that he was “fully recovered from the trauma” that saw him hospitalised for several weeks in Mozambique and South Africa.
At yesterday’s press conference, Agostinho Vuma further condemned “all kinds of crimes directed at businesspeople”, calling it a “war” on the group and against the country’s development.

“Nothing justifies the use of weapons to silence voices in whatever circumstances,” he said.

Since the beginning of the year, Mozambican authorities have registered a total of nine kidnappings of businesspeople or their relatives. Two victims were rescued by the authorities, and two others released in conditions still to be clarified.

Regarding Vuma’s statement, Mozambique’s National Criminal Investigation Service (Sernic) said it would comment on the case in due course.

“I will not comment on the press conference. We will talk about it in due course. When the time comes, we will communicate,” Sernic spokesman Leonardo Simbine told Lusa.

The chairman CTA was assaulted by two armed men in his office building on Avenida Josina Machel near central Maputo at 3:00 p.m. on July 11 of this year.

Agostinho Vuma, 44, was elected president of the CTA in May 2017. He is a founding member of the Association of Contractors of the City of Maputo, of which he was president, and was later involved in the genesis of the Mozambican Federation of Contractors.

Vuma is a Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo) member of parliament and was first elected in 2015, then again in 2019, serving Gaza, in the south of the country.

Mozambique: Police have not yet interviewed Vuma – AIM report

Agostinho Vuma, the chairperson of the Association of Mozambican Business Associations (CTA), who survived an assassination attempt on 11 July, told reporters on Wednesday that he has not yet been contacted by the police, supposedly because he was in quarantine, after his return from medical treatment in South Africa.

“One of the reasons why I’m only speaking to the press today is that I’ve been managing the period of quarantine that ended last week”, said Vuma. “It was my desire to make this statement to the press before appearing in public. For the same reason I have not yet had any notification from the justice authorities to clarify or cooperate in this case”.

“Almost three months have passed, and we still have no information on who committed the crime”, said Vuma. He said he did not recall uttering the name “Salimo” immediately after he was shot.

A security guard at the building where Vuma’s office is located told reporters that Vuma recognized one of the gunmen and named him as “Salimo”. The guard said he heard Vuma cry out “Salimo, what have I done?”

Vuma stressed that, despite the attempt on his life, “I remain a soldier in the fight against corruption”.

“Together with each of you, we shall win each of the many battles that arise day-to-day that are affronts against our commitment to the construction of Mozambique”, he said. “Despite all that has happened, I feel better prepared with each passing day to face the challenges of today and of tomorrow”.

“I have resumed my activities and I shall continue the mission which the CTA members have entrusted to me”, he continued. “In my capacity as CTA chairperson, I shall do my best in the service of the national business class, and in support of a better business environment”.

He called on the authorities to take a tougher approach towards crimes against business people. “This war against business people is a war against the growth of this country”, he declared.

Nothing could justify the use of guns to silence voices under any circumstances, he said. “Dialogue, the peaceful dispute of ideas, is the main weapon to be used in a civilised society”, he added.

Vuma said he did not know who had attacked him, or why, but he hoped “that justice will be done, and this crime will be cleared up as soon as possible”.

Source: Lusa / Miramar / AIM