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FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: VOA]
The resident representative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Mozambique warned on Tuesday of the negative effect of kidnappings on the country’s economy, pointing out that crime could reduce investment.
“Yes, there is an impact” from the wave of kidnappings that are plaguing some Mozambican cities, because “public insecurity has an impact on the willingness to invest”, Alexis Meyer-Cirkel told journalists in Maputo on the sidelines of a seminar with deputies from the Plan and Budget Commission (CPO) of the Assembly of the Republic of Mozambique.
“Investors who feel threatened end up not making the investment they could have made,” declared the IMF representative.
Alexis Mayer-Cirkel, a Brazilian national, said that the IMF has not yet carried out a study on the impact of kidnappings on the Mozambican economy, but is awaiting “with interest” the results of an assessment that the country’s Confederation of Economic Associations (CTA) said that it carried out on the matter.
Mozambican authorities have detained two people suspected of involvement in two kidnappings that took place in the capital, Maputo, the National Criminal Investigation Service (Sernic) announced on Monday.
“They were arrested and charged with the crime of kidnapping, (…) one was arrested on the 17th and the other on the 22nd of this month,” said Sernic spokesperson Hilário Lole during a press conference.
The arrest of the two men was based on information provided by another kidnapping suspect, also detained, presented last week by the spokesperson for the Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM), Leonel Muchina, in work coordinated with Sernic.
Sernic said that work was underway to detain the other kidnappers, noting that some have already been identified, but are yet to be located and detained.
The wave of kidnappings in Mozambique began in 2011, affecting mainly businesspeople and their families, with the participation of police and magistrates, among others, in these networks being frequently confirmed, with ramifications that extend to neighbouring South Africa.
After a period of relative stability, cases have been recorded again in recent years, mainly in provincial capitals, with emphasis on Maputo.
On February 11, another businessman was kidnapped in the city of Maputo, a few meters from the Casa Militar, the barracks responsible for guarding the President, the second kidnapping carried out this year.
On January 16, a manager of a furniture sales store was shot in the abdomen during a kidnapping attempt, thwarted by members of the public who threw stones at the perpetrators, the police spokesperson in Maputo then told Lusa.
Since January 2023, Mozambican authorities have detained 38 people involved in the wave of kidnappings in the country, which recorded a total of 13 cases in the same period, according to official data.
Mozambican authorities have acknowledged, on several occasions, the involvement of members of the police and magistrates in these crimes, the ramifications of which extend to neighbouring South Africa, a country with which Mozambique has strong relations.
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