Mozambique: NGO calls for clarification about allocation of 12,000 ha.of land in Palma district

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Mozambique: NGO calls for clarification about allocation of 12,000 ha.of land in Palma district

3:21 CAT | 21 Sep 2022

FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: CDD Mozambique]

The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), a Mozambican non-governmental organisation (NGO), on Wednesday asked for clarification on the government’s allocation of 12,000 hectares [120 km2] of land in Cabo Delgado to a state entity without public consultation.

“Four months after receiving 12,000 hectares of land in Palma,” next to gas projects, “the Cabo Delgado Economic Development Promotion Centre (CPD) remains unknown,” reads the analysis document that reaffirms requests for information made in May, when the Council of Ministers announced the decision.

Four months after receiving 12,000 hectares of land in Palma, Cabo Delgado’s CPD remains unknown and functions with only one executive director

Read more:https://t.co/fGTz4QL6NI pic.twitter.com/7Lul8C1WQv

— CDD – Centro para Democracia e Desenvolvimento (@CDD_Moz) September 18, 2022

The absence of information about the CPD is widespread, “including by some senior officials of the Provincial Executive Council and the Secretary of State” of Cabo Delgado, the CDD notes.

Also in May, Mozambican NGO Centro Terra Viva announced steps with the National Directorate of Land (DNT) to clarify how it is possible to allocate such an extension of territory without consulting its populations, fleeing because of the war in the region, in addition to other unanswered questions.

The CDD notes that the lack of transparency in the process raises doubts about what the fate of the entire area will be and may “exacerbate tensions” with the communities.

READ: Mozambique: Council of Ministers approves concession of land in Palma district, Cabo Delgado

Cabo Delgado province is rich in natural gas but has been terrorised since 2017 by armed rebels, with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.

In 2021, attacks led to the suspension of gas projects, the largest private investment in Africa, worth around €20 billion.

French oil company TotalEnergies has postponed a reassessment of security in the region until the end of this year to decide on resuming construction of the gas liquefaction plant and the surrounding industrial town.

For a year now, an offensive by government troops, with support from Rwanda and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), has allowed rebel-held areas near the gas projects to be retaken – although attacks continue elsewhere in the province and in the neighbouring region of Nampula.

There are about 800,000 internally displaced people due to the conflict, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and about 4,000 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project.