Mozambique: Police must enforce curfew, but without abusing citizens – Watch

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Mozambique: Police must enforce curfew, but without abusing citizens – Watch

6:45 CAT | 06 Feb 2021

Photo: MMO

Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi on Friday ordered the police force to implement the government’s measures to halt the spread of the Covid-19 respiratory disease, but without breaking the law themselves.

Speaking to a meeting of police officers at the Maputo barracks of the Rapid Intervention Force (UIR – the Mozambican equivalent of the riot police) Nyusi stressed that enforcing such measures as the curfew in Greater Maputo was not a green light for the police to abuse citizens.

“I didn’t come here to say that you should beat up Mozambicans”, said Nyusi. “I didn’t come here to tell you to threaten citizens. I did come here to tell you to ensure compliance with the government decree on the State of Public Calamity”.

Then main innovation of this decree is that there is now a curfew in the Greater Maputo Metropolitan Area from 21.00 to 04.00. Initially, the curfew will be in force for 30 days in Maputo and Matola cities and the adjoining districts of Boane and Marracuene.

The police should rigorously enforce the curfew, the President said, but within the law. He regarded enforcing the curfew as “a mission to save the lives of Mozambicans”.

The police should send people found on the streets during the hours of curfew to their homes. The use of force, he insisted, “should always be a last resort”.

The police should be able to handle acts of disobedience without using truncheons, much less bullets, the President said. He urged the police to read and master the government decree “so that there are no arbitrary interpretations”.

Nyusi added that the public should not hinder the police in the performance of their duties. When the police demanded that citizens should wear masks in public, it was not the police who were inconveniencing citizens – in fact, it was the other way round, he said. “Those of you who do not wear masks are inconveniencing the police”, he said, “because they could be doing many other things instead of telling citizens to put on their masks”.

Nyusi added that the police should also ensure that buses and minibuses obey the limitations on the number of passengers they can carry, ensuring that social distancing is observed at bus terminals,

He urged members of the police force to avoid acts of corruption. “The police do not need to solve their problems by resorting to extortion”, he declared.

Source: AIM / Strong Live TV