Moz riots into second day

MAPUTO – Mozambique’s government deployed troops to clear barricades in the capital as angry protesters blocked roads and looted shops yesterday, the second day of riots caused by soaring bread prices.

The Cabinet held an emergency session and appealed for calm, and cabinet spokesman Alberto Nkutumula said seven people had been killed and 288 injured in the protests.

“We condemn acts of violence and we appeal to all citizens to remain calm,” Nkutumula said.

Police said the army had been sent into the capital Maputo to help clear barricades erected by thousands of protesters.

“The army was called to clean the city (of barricades) and not to restore order and public security,” Pedro Cossa, spokesman of the general police command, told state-controlled Mozambique Television TVM.

The sight of soldiers on the streets could scare off protesters and prevent further riots. On Wednesday seven people, including two children, were killed when police opened fire on protesters in the worst riots to hit the southern African country of 23 million since 2008.

The rioting was prompted by a 30 per cent rise in bread prices in one of the world’s poorest countries, which has never fully recovered from one of Africa’s bloodiest civil wars and has a 54 per cent unemployment rate.

The government-imposed price rise took the cost of a bread roll - the bread staple of Mozambicans - to about N$1.46 in a country where the average worker earns around N$270 a month.

Schools and most businesses in the capital were closed yesterday and shoppers waited in long queues at the few bakeries that were open. 

Despite its poverty, Mozambique has one of the fastest growing economies in the world’s poorest continent, and the IMF expects 7 per cent GDP growth this year. The main exports are aluminium, electric power, coal and farm products including sugar.

President Armando Guebuza condemned the killings and the destruction of property and called on Mozambicans to restore order. He said the government had made progress in implementing its plan to improve food production and infrastructure and provide running water and better schools.

The violence was the worst since 2008 when at least six people were killed in protests over high fuel prices and living costs.

The former Portuguese colony was torn by a 16-year civil war from the late 1970s until a peace treaty was signed in 1992, ending fighting between the then-Marxist ruling party and South African-backed rebels. – Nampa-Reuters

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