Africa-Press – Mozambique. The Medical Association of Moçambique had planned to march on Saturday (October 16) in protest at the wave of abductions plaguing the country’s main cities, and to deliver a message of solidarity with Doctor Basit Gani, kidnapped more than a week ago in the Mozambican capital.
The march was planned to start at the organisation’s headquarters on Avenida Eduardo Mondlane and end at Praça da Independência, but was prevented from going ahead by a police contingent which presented a document signed by the mayor of Maputo, Eneas Comiche denying permission.
“A march does not have to be authorised, because it is a constitutional right. We, the organisers, only have the duty to communicate to the authorities, and that is what we did,” said Napoleão Viola, secretary general of the Medical Association.
“As established by law, we sent letters to the authorities to inform them of the march, but there was no response. We were taken by surprise on the day of the march by a heavily armed police cordon which prevented our demonstration,” he added.
Lusa news agency tried without success to obtain clarification on the matter from the Municipal Council of Maputo City and the Police of the Republic of Mozambique.
Letters to the Government
Despite the episode, the Medical Association of Mozambique said that it will continue with actions demanding an end to the wave of abductions and the location of doctor Basit Gani, who is also vice-president of the Mozambican Association of Muslim Businessmen and Entrepreneurs.
“The association will not stop until our colleague is located. He is a young doctor, a member of the association fulfilling his function in society. He deserves freedom and, like others, to live safely in this country,” Viola declared.
The organisation has already written letters to the President of the Republic, Filipe Nyusi, and to the Ministry of Interior demanding concrete measures to stop these crimes.
Three abductions in one week
Mozambique’s main cities have recently endured a wave of kidnappings, mainly targeting businessmen or their families, but exceptionally also including a young doctor.
On the day the doctor was abducted, businessman Nazir Tadkir was also kidnapped in Maputo. On Thursday (October 14), the eldest son of the president of the Business Confederation of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CE-CPLP), Mozambican Salimo Abdula, was kidnapped, although the latter case occurred in South Africa, according to the local press.
In December this year, the Mozambican president floated the possibility of creating an anti-kidnapping police unit to fight the crime wave afflicting the main Mozambican cities.
On Saturday, the Confederation of Economic Associations of Mozambique (CTA), the largest Mozambican employer, demanded concrete measures to stop the wave of kidnappings in the country, offering to support the government materially to improve the efficiency of the authorities involved in fighting crime.
