Mozambique: Residents block main road in Chongoene district, Gaza province

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Mozambique: Residents block main road in Chongoene district, Gaza province

12:57 CAT | 07 Feb 2025

Photo: Saveca ll/Facebook

Residents blocked National Road 221 on Thursday morning in the district of Chongoene, in the southern province of Gaza, an official source said.

The spokesman for the Mozambican police (PRM) in the province, Júlio Nhamússua, told Lusa that the unrest began at around 11 a.m. and that no people had been arrested so far.

‘So far, the road remains blocked. The police are still on the ground working,’ he said yesterday, adding that the causes of the blockade are not yet known.

Since 21 October, Mozambique has been experiencing a climate of serious social unrest, protests, demonstrations and stoppages, usually called by former presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, who rejects the results of the 9 October elections, with violent clashes between police and demonstrators, as well as looting and destruction of public and private facilities.

Last week, demonstrators set fire to a tollbooth belonging to the Mozambique Road Network (Revimo) in Maputo province, in the south of the country, interrupting payment.

Rede Viária de Moçambique (Revimo), responsible for the construction, maintenance and operation of several national roads, announced on Saturday that it would resume charging tolls in the country on Monday, suspended due to the post-election protests.

South Africa’s Trans African Concessions (TRAC), the concessionaire for the N4 motorway, which links Maputo to the Ressano Garcia border, also resumed charging tolls last Thursday, causing a popular revolt.

In December, Mondlane called for tolls not to be paid in the country, and after some toll booths were destroyed and vandalised, several were closed, and no payments were taken.

Meanwhile, in a recently published document with 30 measures for the first 100 days of the new government, Venâncio Mondlane, who does not recognise the official results of the general elections on 9 October that gave victory to Daniel Chapo, once again called for tolls not to be charged throughout the country.

Revimo said that the fees collected through the tolls guarantee the maintenance of the road infrastructure, stating that it will continue to implement measures to mitigate the costs, ‘including discounts’ for collective passenger transport and frequent users.

Source: Lusa