The Confederation of Economic Associations (CTA) of Mozambique, the country’s largest employers’ association, this Friday defended “harsher” prison sentences for kidnappers and “no bail” to stem the tide of kidnappings in the country.
“We understand that profound changes need to be made both in the approach of the Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM) to combating this scourge and in the current legal framework, making its criminal basis more stringent and eliminating the possibility of paying bail,” the CTA said in a statement , sent to the media in response to the kidnapping of a woman in Maputo.
A group of three armed men kidnapped the 26-year-old woman on Wednesday morning as she left her home to go to the gym on Rua Valentim City in the Mozambican capital, Lusa Door said at the time, PRM spokesman for the city of Maputo, Lionel Muchina.
“We conducted an on-site assessment and found that the family has no business history,” said a spokesman for the group of people who were mostly victims of kidnappings.
Businesses need to rethink the Mozambican government’s approach to combating kidnapping, arguing that the effective implementation of an anti-kidnapping unit and other proposals presented to the government are “the starting point for eradicating the phenomenon.”
“The message must be conveyed that the state and society do not tolerate this legal type of crime,” CTA added in the document, expressing “great concern” about the worsening crime of kidnapping in Mozambique.
Mozambican employers are also concerned about the lack of clarity on these crimes, which mainly affect businessmen and their families, as the situation increases the likelihood of continued kidnappings in the country.
The kidnappings are affecting the economic structure and decisions of potential investors in the country in an “extremely negative” way, the business confederation said, adding that the situation also makes Mozambique “unsafe for attracting tourism.”
Some cities in Mozambique, mainly provincial capitals, have been hit again by a wave of kidnappings since 2020.
Mozambican Prime Minister Adriano Maleian said in parliament in May that the agents who will work in the unit to combat kidnappings affecting the country’s main cities have already been selected.
“The first stage, already completed,” of creating an anti-kidnapping unit “consisted of selecting agents,” and the next stage will be the specialization of personnel and the support of cooperation partners, he continued.
Maleyan then said that since 2021, 28 cases of kidnapping have been registered in Mozambique, of which “15 have been fully clarified.”