Africa-Press – Mozambique. The Confederation of Business Associations of Mozambique on Friday condemned the kidnapping of two citizens, on Thursday, in Maputo, considering that crime in the main cities of the country is reaching alarming levels.
“These kidnappings reveal that the criminality is reaching alarming levels, contributing to a greater climate of despair, uncertainty and insecurity, negatively affecting the business environment and private investment in Mozambique,” said a statement from the CTA.
The victims of the kidnappings, which all took place in the morning, are Basit Gani, a doctor and vice president of the Mozambican Association of Muslim Businesspeople and Entrepreneurs, and Nazir Tadkir, a businessman in the restaurant sector, according to CTA.
The first victim was kidnapped by an armed group at around 7am local time (6am in Lisbon), on the ‘campus’ of Eduardo Mondlane University and, within less than an hour, another man was forcibly taken in front of his residence on Friedrich Engels Avenue, which houses the homes of several diplomats in the Mozambican capital, also by an armed group, the police confirmed.
“CTA condemns these horrendous crimes and vehemently demands that the authorities combat these crimes efficiently, concretely and with visible results,” stressed Mozambique’s largest employers’ organisation.
In addition to the CTA, the Association of Doctors expressed its rejection to the situation, demanding the urgent intervention of the President of the Republic, Filipe Nyusi.
“The kidnapping of doctor Basit Gani, a young doctor working at the Maputo Private Hospital, is a serious sign of the deteriorating security situation in Mozambique and in Maputo, in particular, which may have worrying consequences on the day-to-day lives of health professionals, a sector already martyred by Covid-19 and its effects,” the president of the Association of Doctors, Milton Tatia, told the media on Thursday.
The Mozambican president announced in December the possibility of creating an anti-kidnapping police unit to combat the crime wave in Mozambique’s main cities, with more than 10 cases registered during 2020.
