Mozambique: Military fighting armed groups in country to get danger money

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Mozambique: Military fighting armed groups in country to get danger money

4:25 CAT | 18 Jun 2020

Mozambique’s government has approved a subsidy for military personnel fighting incursions of armed groups in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique, said cabinet spokesman, Filimão Suaze.

“We need to give greater encouragement to the people who are in the theatre of operations that are happening in the country,” said Filimão Suaze.

Cabo Delgado, the Mozambican province where the largest private investment in Africa is being made for natural gas exploration, has been under attack since October 2017 by insurgents, classified since the beginning of the year as a terrorist threat, and which have already caused at least 600 deaths and affected 200,000 people, forced to take refuge in safer places.

The subsidy for military personnel fighting the armed groups in northern Mozambique was announced on Tuesday by the Mozambican head of state at an event in the district of Mueda in Cabo Delgado.

On Wednesday, although without saying numbers, the Mozambican government spokesman said that the measure will cover all military personnel who are fighting to ensure the sovereignty of the country, including those involved in operations to stop armed attacks on roads in Manica and Sofala provinces, incursions that have caused the death of more than 20 people since August 2019 and have been attributed to a group of Renamo dissidents, the main opposition party.

The subsidy is a stimulus for those who are giving their all to ensure that the country remains independent and are defending the populations in the areas where these attacks are taking place,” Swaze said, adding that the amounts will be defined according to the hierarchy, discipline and internal organisation of the defence and security forces.

In addition to the military, the Mozambican government approved another decree that authorises subsidies for health professionals who, in the exercise of their duties, are exposed to infectious diseases, a measure adopted given the challenges imposed by Covid-19.

“Because of the situation we lived in, we understood that it was important to find a standard subsidy for all people who are in those sectors where the risk of contamination or contagion is high,” said Suaze.

Since the announcement of the first case on 22 March, Mozambique has registered a total of 662 confirmed cases and four deaths due to Covid-19, with 175 people recovered.