Maputo, Jan. 20, 2026 (Lusa) - Mozambican politician Venâncio Mondlane said on Tuesday that rescuing people at risk and providing humanitarian assistance to those affected by the floods should be a priority, accusing Mozambique's government of failing to take preventive measures despite weather forecasts having been available since August.
"This is the number one priority: rescue. So, these two issues, humanitarian assistance and rescue, saving lives, these two components, at this moment, are the highest priority," said Mozambican politician Venâncio Mondlane.
Speaking to Lusa on the sidelines of a visit to a section of National Road Number One (N1), closed to traffic along the town of Manhiça in the south of the country due to flooding, Mondlane told reporters that responses should vary according to the context on the ground.
"The most urgent thing now, clearly, depending on the situation, for example, in the city of Maputo and the city of Matola, is humanitarian assistance," he stressed.
Mondlane considered that "a lot has failed", highlighting the main problem as the lack of an effective contingency plan to prevent deaths and property damage during the rainy season, despite official climate forecasts being available since August 2025.
The politician recalled that, at the 12th National Forum on Climate Forecasting, the National Institute of Meteorology and the National Directorate for Water Resources Management warned of soil saturation in the last quarter of 2025 and "well above normal" flooding between January and March 2026.
"This information exists, produced and communicated (...). What failed was its ability to prepare an adequate contingency plan," he stressed.
The politician also pointed out the lack of diplomatic coordination with upstream countries, especially South Africa, whose dams had already been close to their maximum capacity since August and September, a situation he said was public knowledge.
Among the measures that should have been anticipated, the politician listed the preventive evacuation of populations from risk areas, the strategic positioning of rescue resources, such as helicopters and boats, and the creation of reserves of food, medicine and other essential goods.
"What is being done now should have been done months ago," he said, also criticising the lack of timely mobilisation of health professionals, defence forces and volunteers to assist victims.
Mondlane also linked the country's vulnerability to structural problems, pointing to corruption as one of the factors that compromised investments in disaster mitigation infrastructure, financed over decades, "due to the misappropriation of funds and corruption that existed in relation to the disaster management fund."
"So these are the reasons, in summary: misuse of climate forecast information, lack of preparation, lack of a contingency plan for mitigation, and deep corruption in relation to the funds that were supposed to be invested in this infrastructure," he concluded.
On 15 January, Mondlane said that the deaths due to rains and floods in Mozambique were the result of corruption and "failed governance", announcing the opening of his party's headquarters and delegations to welcome the victims.
The total number of deaths during the rainy season in Mozambique rose to 112, with three people still missing and 99 injured, according to data from the National Institute for Disaster Risk Management and Reduction (INGD).
EYMZ/ADB // ADB.
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