Xai-Xai, Mozambique, Feb. 7, 2025 (Lusa) - The Mozambican authorities have recorded at least five "pockets of demonstrations" in the last 24 hours in Gaza province, with blockades on important roads in that southern province of Mozambique, a police source told Lusa on Friday.
Júlio Nhamússua, spokesman for the police (PRM) in Gaza province, said that "in the early hours of Thursday, residents of the village of Nhafunguine, in the district of Chonguene, gathered in front of EDM [Electricity of Mozambique] to demand that electricity be connected to their village", and then "travelled to EN1 [National Road 1] and obstructed it".
According to the source, in the same district, in Bairro 5, a group of young people set up barricades on National Road 102, blocking the passage of vehicles and pedestrians in both directions.
"The community was protesting against enrollment fees at state schools, the lack of access to drinking water and the lack of electricity in neighbourhoods 6 and 7," he said.
The representative also said that the third outbreak of unrest, in the same district, took place in the village of Bango, where residents blocked the EN102 in the Bungane area, preventing vehicles from travelling, in protest at the lack of electricity in the region.
"The police went to the scene, managed the protesters‘ emotions, which culminated in the removal of the barricades and the normal flow on the road was restored," he said.
Júlio Nhamússua added that residents living in some villages and towns in the districts of Mandlakazi and Chókwè had also blocked some roads with logs, mainly in protest at the high cost of basic products.
"The police went to the scene and through dialogue it was possible to unblock the roads and restore public order and the normal flow of traffic," he concluded.
At a press conference in Maputo today, Mozambican government spokesman Inocêncio Impissa said that the roadblock in Chonguene makes it impossible to build the port in that district, adding that work is underway to understand the motivations behind the protests, involving the project concessionaire and the communities.
Mozambique has been experiencing a climate of intense social unrest since October, with demonstrations and stoppages first called by former presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, who rejects the election results of 9 October.
Today, protests, now on a smaller scale, have been taking place in different parts of the country and, as well as contesting the results, people are complaining about the rising cost of living and other social problems.
Since October, at least 327 people have died, including around two dozen minors, and around 750 have been shot during the protests, according to the electoral platform Decide, a non-governmental organisation that monitors electoral processes.
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