Mozambique: Businesspeople call for military escorts on roads where insurgents demand ‘fees’

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Mozambique: Businesspeople call for military escorts on roads where insurgents demand ‘fees’

10:16 CAT | 17 Jul 2025

FILE - For illustration purposes only. The road between Macomia and Awasse is one of the few paved roads connecting the northernmost districts of the province, including Muidumbe, Mocímboa da Praia, Mueda, Nangade and Palma. [File photo: Rádio Moçambique]

The president of the business council of Cabo Delgado, in northern Mozambique, has called for the resumption of military escorts on some roads to counter illegal charges made by alleged terrorists for travel in that province.

“So far, we have counted 104 vehicles [stopped] and, by Saturday, the amount increases, it’s terrifying, because the ransom demanded is higher, ranging from 200,000 to 350,000 meticais (€2.691 to €4.710). If you have that money, you keep your vehicle, Imagine if you don’t have it, the vehicle will go in ashes,”” Mamudo Irache, from the Confederation of Economic Associations (CTA), the largest representative of the Mozambican private sector, told the media.

According to the provincial representative, supposed insurgent groups have been collecting money as a condition for travelling since January on the stretch between the town of Awasse, in the district of Mocímboa da Praia, and the district of Macomia. In this area, terrorist groups previously launched successive attacks.

In addition to collecting money, Mamudo Irache also warned of an increase in kidnappings on roads connecting the northernmost districts of Cabo Delgado, following the withdrawal of military escorts —a measure that had operated mainly on the route between Macomia and Awasse until recently.

“In this first phase of uncertainties occurring, we are asking for the resumption of escorts. This is the first point. With the resumption of escorts, businesspeople would obviously feel safer,” said the official, who also called for the military to set up positions in areas that require additional security.

“As these are the identified areas where kidnappings have always taken place, placing a permanent position on this road could perhaps help us, as businesspeople, and could help the region,” said the president of the Cabo Delgado business council.

Referring to a meeting held on Tuesday with the provincial government, the president of the Cabo Delgado Road Transport Association, Cassimo Ibraimo, said he had raised the same issue, reiterating that the “situation requires attention” in Cabo Delgado.

“We had a meeting yesterday [Tuesday] about this and we raised it as a challenge and asked the government to help us in this context.”

“You want to travel, [but] you need money to get through, so we have raised this issue with the provincial governor,” Cassimo Ibraimo told reporters.

The road between Macomia and Awasse is one of the few paved roads connecting the northernmost districts of the province, including Muidumbe, Mocímboa da Praia, Mueda, Nangade and Palma.

Gas-rich Cabo Delgado province, in the north of the country, has been facing an armed rebellion since 2017, which has left thousands dead and caused a humanitarian crisis with more than a million people displaced.

The new movements of extremists in northern Mozambique include Niassa, a province neighbouring Cabo Delgado, where, since they began on 29 April, they have killed at least two forest rangers, cutting off their heads.