Ugandans detained in Mozambique deny involvement in Cabo Delgado attacks

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Ugandans detained in Mozambique deny involvement in Cabo Delgado attacks

4:10 CAT | 13 Feb 2019

File photo: DW

The 12 Ugandans detained in the town of Chimoio, Manica province, on Sunday, deny any involvement in the armed attacks in Cabo Delgado, in northern Mozambique. Authorities are investigating the case.

The Ugandans were detained on Sunday as they were travelling to Maputo by bus. They claimed they were on their way to Zimbabwe, but police thought it strange that they were on a bus in the opposite direction.

“What raised our suspicions was that in their possession we found not only 16 mobile phones, a computer, flashlights and large sums of money in South African, Mozambican and Ugandan currencies. Which gave us pause for thought, given the current situation in the north of the country, ” Manica police spokesman Mateus Mindú explained.

Police say they seized the equivalent of EUR 2,000 in foreign exchange.

In early February, Mozambican authorities announced the arrest of three other Ugandan citizens accused of recruiting youths to carry out armed attacks in Cabo Delgado.

“Simply looking for a better future”

The Ugandans deny any involvement in Cabo Delgado attacks. Samuel M., one of the 12 detainees, said in an interview with DW Africa that the group was looking for agricultural work in Zimbabwe. “We do not have clear information that Zimbabwe is not doing well economically, but we were not going to the capital of the country, but to the farms, because someone contacted us to work in the farms in Zimbabwe,” he says.

Swaib J., another detainee, confirms his story: they went looking for agricultural work. “We are simply looking for a better future. We left our country in search of work, and we were just passing through Mozambique to get to Zimbabwe, where we were going to go to Harare, from where someone would take us to the fields,” he says.

The case is being investigated by the authorities and a “joint operation with the other sectors of the Defense and Security Forces” is under way, according to Provincial Directorate of Migration spokesman in Manica, Jorge Machava.

“When asked for their visas, they said they were going to Zimbabwe, but the reason they were going to Maputo is unknown,” he says.

Source: Deutsche Welle