Palma: After the attack, the famine – Carta

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Palma: After the attack, the famine – Carta

9:15 CAT | 14 Apr 2021

FILE - For illustration purposes only. A boy in a bike passes near the debris of a motorcycle in a street of Palma, Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, 09 April 2021. {File photo: João Relvas / Lusa[

There is a popular adage that “after the storm comes the calm”, expressing the idea that after a troubled period, an era of tranquillity ensues. However, in the headquarters town of Palma, Cabo Delgado province, everything indicates the opposite. After the terrorist invasion, now the famine has arrived.

Ten days after the Defence and Security Forces (FDS) regained control of that district headquarters, nothing indicates tranquillity in that part of the country. The houses and vehicles are still abandoned, the streets and markets almost deserted, and the few merchants on the main street of the village say they are “dispatching” their last merchandise remaining from before the terrorist invasion of 24 March.

Such is the case, for example, with Abdulai Mohamed, a young man selling bread and oranges on the street. He told reporters that the bread was made from the raw material that remained after the terrorist attack. A roll costs 10 meticais, and the same amount for an orange.

Also on the street selling the last of his stock is Juma Chico, a young businessman from Nacala-a-Velha in Nampula.

Juma says that on March 24, the date on which the insurgents invaded the main town in the district of Palma, he had just received 30,000 meticais of stock from his suppliers in Nacula.

At Juma’s stand we found cooking oil, broth, onion, rice, corn flour and mineral water. Prices, however, were prohibitive. One kilogram of rice or corn flour cost 200 meticais, a sachet of broth 15 meticais. Onions were between 10 and 20 meticais each and a 1.5 litre bottle of cooking oil 400 meticais. Other traders sell cookies, candies, and fresh fish for 50 meticais per portion.

The stalls open in Palma can be counted on one hand. Most of them are abandoned. In fact, it is young men who control trade at the moment; the women have gone looking for places of safety.

With the town deserted, there are almost no consumers, and the few who are left complain about the lack of money. Mário Suleiman has not eaten since last Monday, except for a roll of bread to “cheat” his stomach.

Rachide Juma and Ibrahimo Suleiman, two heads of family, say there is famine in Palma now. Families no longer have food. “We are suffering a lot. We have no food at all, ” Ibrahimo Suleiman complains.

“We don’t feel totally safe, even though we haven’t heard gunshots in many days. But our biggest concern is food. We’re feeling sick. There is no food,” Rachide Juma adds.

Some families say they have not eaten for more than three days, a situation confirmed by Valentim Sumail Dienga, a community leader in the Mua neighbourhood on the outskirts of town. Dienga says his community has no more food, and begs the government for help.

Since the announcement by the FDS of the resumption of control of the town on April 4th, there has not been one humanitarian assistance flight for those still remaining in the place. In fact, the World Food Program (WFP), which had been distributing food in Palma before the terrorist attack, suspended its evacuation flights for the displaced on April 3 for security reasons.

Government visits Palma nine days after controlling the village

Meanwhile, nine days after the situation was normalised, a government team led by the Minister of State Administration and Public Service, Ana Comoane, visited the town to survey the damage caused by the terrorists.

Comoane told reporters that the government was working with a specific action plan for the district of Palma, which included both immediate action and development action. Immediate actions include humanitarian assistance (food, shelter and basic sanitary conditions), while development actions involve assistance to initiatives such as agrarian and fishing activities.

“We will continue to support Palma. We will continue to support the populations so that they can return to their lives,” the minister promised, stressing that finding such “a desolate scenario ” shows that “we are facing a soulless enemy”.

By Abílio Maolela, in Palma

Source: Carta de Moçambique