Mozambique: Minister advocates demystifying ideas surrounding kidnappings – Watch

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Mozambique: Minister advocates demystifying ideas surrounding kidnappings – Watch

2:53 CAT | 13 Aug 2024

Screen grab: O País

The Minister of the Interior said on Monday that the approval of laws, the training of institutions and the involvement of communities could all be ways to combat kidnappings in Mozambique.

Pascoal Ronda therefore announced that he would meet with the Muslim community of Indian origin yesterday to interrogate the factors behind the kidnappings, since this group is the one that has been targeted.

The minister said, however, that it was imperative to “demystify” notions that SERNIC and the PRM were involved in this type of crime, unless there was proof.

The police, he said, were working hard to combat the scourge.

Regarding the upcoming electoral period, Minister Ronda said that the Police of the Republic of Mozambique would be ready to guarantee order and tranquillity throughout the process.

The Minister of the Interior was speaking this Monday in Maputo on the sidelines of the launch of the Blue Economy Development Strategy and Blue Investment Opportunities Portfolio.
Mozambique’s Islamic community, the country’s main victim of kidnappings, went public last Friday, showing its outrage regarding the increasing number of cases in the city of Maputo. The intervention included serious accusations against the country’s police and government authorities, including members of the government.

Responding to the accusations, the Minister of the Interior said this Monday that the point was what everyone could do together to address the problem of kidnappings. “There is no point in throwing stones,” he said.

“We have taken notes and recorded it, but today (this Monday) there is a meeting, which I myself will chair. Let’s sit down calmly, without excitement, and understand what is going wrong, what we should correct and what we should do together to face the problem. This is a cyclical problem that requires cyclical solutions. For great evils, great remedies. So, that is what we are going to do,” the minister added.

The Minister of the Interior said that the situation was typical of emotional people, and devoid of any evidence.

“We need to understand that all our reactions and all our knowledge should be loaded with elements that support the reaction. There are times when people speak emotionally, because they want a quick answer and do not look at the surrounding factors. When he says that the AKM used by the kidnappers was a police weapon, the question that is asked is, right from the start, a scientific question: how many countries manufacture the AK47, which is an assault weapon? And how many countries sell this weapon?”

Ronda questioned, responded and corrected. “Even in South Africa they sell it. That is a fallacy. That weapon does not mean it belongs to the police. Firstly, no expert work was done to say that that weapon is registered with the police. He spoke because he was emotional and because he is worried. We need to have elements that support our entire argument, so everything we say can be substantiated.”

For the Minister of the Interior, the most important thing is that the police commander who attended last week’s meeting with the Islamic community took note and is working on it, even with limited resources. “If there are elements involved, they will be held accountable for their actions. Just as we punish those who are undisciplined. If someone from the police is involved, at any level, they will be held accountable for their actions,” the minister added.

For the Minister of the Interior, there is not much time, especially because there are countries that have been unable to solve the problem for a long time. Pascoal Ronda said that the important thing was to commit to solving the problem and, one day, Mozambique would celebrate the resolution of the kidnappings. “We are not ashamed of criticism, because that is what makes us grow. This is a journey with ups and downs, and the important thing is that we stay focused.”

Source: Rádio Moçambique / O País