Five years on, murder of Mahamudo Amurane remains unsolved

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Five years on, murder of Mahamudo Amurane remains unsolved
Five years on, murder of Mahamudo Amurane remains unsolved

Africa-Press – Mozambique. Mozambicans are calling for an international investigation to find those responsible for the murder of the former Nampula mayor, while the local community is demanding a “Mahamudo Amurane Street” to commemorate the official murdered five years ago.

The citizens of Nampula still remember with anguish the barbaric murder of the “revolutionary of Nampula”, as the city’s mayor, Mahamudo Amurane, was affectionately known.

“Tears fall endlessly. Amurane’s focus was to transform the city of Nampula into a European city,” says local resident Felisberto Mucussete.

Mahamudo Amurane “was a figure who revolutionised Nampula as a city”, Tiago Filipe, another citizen interviewed by DW Africa, maintains. “He always said that he wanted to transform the city of Nampula into [something like] Switzerland. In life, Amurane was not only an asset for Nampula, but for all Mozambique,” he adds.

A crime without a culprit

At the end of June 2022, the Sixth Chamber of the Provincial Court of Nampula started the trial in the murder of the mayor Mahamudo Amurane. In the dock are the two defendants accused by the Public Prosecutor’s Office. But, so far, there has been no judicial outcome.

Tiago Filipe is demanding for a thorough investigation by international experts, as he considers national justice frivolous and partial. “International organisations would not be intimidated by partisan motivations, as I believe they are in this case,” he comments.

Mucussete believes that someone will be held accountable, but warns that these people may not be the “real killers”.

Memorialization of Mahamudo Amurane

In the city of Nampula, the desire to memorialise the former mayor continues to grow. “One of the things we have to do, as a thank-you, would be to name a Rua Mahamudo Amurane”, Tiago Filipe suggests.

The Liberal Party for Sustainable Development (PLDS), a political formation that was allegedly in the process of being created by Mahamudo Amurane at the time of his death, mobilised its members to clean up the tomb of the former mayor this Tuesday (04.10) But the police prevented the activity going ahead, Amisse Constantino, president of the PLDS Economic Commission, alleges.

“The reasons, as politicians, we can interpret in different ways. But we were outraged, and we need to go deeper so that it doesn’t happen next time,” he said.

The Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM) did not publicly comment on their reasons for preventing the tomb visit and cleaning operation by the members of the PLDS, but police sources told DW off the record that the activity was prevented so as not to “create social unrest”.

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