Mozambique: Payment of Covid-19 subsidy marked by disorder in Maputo

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Mozambique: Payment of Covid-19 subsidy marked by disorder in Maputo

3:12 CAT | 07 May 2021

Photo: O País

At Post Number Eight in Malanga, Maputo city, on Thursday afternoon, dozens of people remained standing in line, even after the National Institute of Social Action (INAS) had finished attending to the 38 people on its list.

Post Number Eight, the last in the Malanga circle, had registered 38 beneficiaries, of which 34 were dealt with during the day. The remaining four were to receive their subsidy amount when they returned this Friday. If they could not, they were to contact the National Social Action Institute in the next few days.

In the meantime, dozens of people were still waiting in line to receive the Covid-19 subsidies.

“I have been queuing since 5:00 a.m., and I have not yet received anything. We are here, even the elderly, and still we haven’t received it. Is this fair?” an irritated Joana Vilanculo asked.

“We are all here, in line with the subsidy scheme that was promised us. There is no mother who hasn’t made a plan. We need bread, rice and other food items for the children,” said Telma Langa, who queued all day on Wednesday.

According to INAS spokesperson Cristiano Inguane, one of the reasons for the disorderly queueing is the fact that the subsidy process was initially “discredited”.

“The process started last year and many people did not take it seriously. I think that, at some point, this process became discredited, but now it is underway, people have started to wake up and are flocking to payment posts en masse,” he explained.

The INAS is changing the process for the second phase of payments. It plans to avoid crowds by distributing mobile phones to beneficiaries and using them to disburse the grants, once a bank account number is provided. This will prevent gatherings.

By Nelson Marqueza

Source: O País