Mozambique: Wave of kidnappings causing capital flight – Frelimo MP

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambique: Wave of kidnappings causing capital flight – Frelimo MP

3:14 CAT | 07 Oct 2022

Photo: Domingo

Frelimo, the ruling party in Mozambique, warned yesterday that kidnapping in Mozambican cities is causing capital flight and a withdrawal of investments, urging the authorities to fight this type of crime.

“These phenomena have reduced the attraction of investments and contributed to the flight of capital,” said Sérgio Pantie, head of the Frelimo bench in parliament.

Pantie was delivering the opening speech of the plenary sessions of parliament, which resumed work yesterday.

“We urge the authorities to continue to redouble their efforts to investigate and clarify these cases.” The “wave of kidnappings” was “haunting” the lives of Mozambicans, “particularly in large cities”, he said.

The head of the ruling party’s parliamentary bench urged the public to remain vigilant and report suspected abductions from neighbourhoods and workplaces.

Frelimo’s appeal comes after another businessman was kidnapped in central Maputo on Monday, the latest in a wave of kidnappings targeting mainly business people and their family members in some Mozambican cities.

In the opening speech of the parliamentary sessions, Pantie also asked the executive to increase infrastructure building and work harder on diversifying the economy.

“We encourage the government to continue to make the necessary investments to reduce the infrastructure deficit and improve the population’s living conditions in the social and human development component. In the same vein, we consider it crucial to work on the diversification of the economy, in order to take full advantage of the country’s potential,” Pantie stressed.

Frelimo welcomed the measures adopted by the government for the recovery of the economy after the impact of Covid-19, highlighting the tax incentives and advances in reducing administrative bureaucracy to boost productive activity.

“These measures will put the citizen and the private sector at the centre of economic activity, maximising the potential of national production,” he observed.

Debates in parliament continue this Friday, starting with the Single Salary Table (TSU), an instrument with which the government intends to harmonise the criteria for calculating salaries in the public administration and correct imbalances in the sector’s remuneration matrix.

The deputies’ agenda also includes, before December, the debate on the proposed media and broadcasting laws, the review of the law on the legal regime for foreign citizens in Mozambique, debate on the foreign exchange law and the law establishing the legal regime for bank accounts.

Information from the Head of State on the state of the nation, information from the Ombudsman, questioning sessions to the Government and the debate on the Economic and Social Plan and State Budget for 2023 are also on the agenda.

The Assembly of the Republic is dominated by Frelimo with a qualified majority of 184 of the 250 seats in parliament. Renamo has 60 deputies, and the MDM six.

Source: Lusa