Nearly 150 businessmen have been kidnapped in Mozambique over the past 12 years

Almost 150 businessmen have been kidnapped in Mozambique in the past 12 years and hundreds have fled the country out of fear, according to figures released Thursday by the CTA business confederation, which says it’s time for the government to say “enough is enough.”

“They are already on their way to 150. More than a hundred have left the country. We are not talking about those who held administrative or managerial positions, if we count them, there are many more. We are talking about those who occupied the capital.” “They were shareholders of companies,” Pedro Baltasar, president of the CTA’s security and private protection department, told a press conference in Maputo.

The latest of these kidnappings of businessmen took place in Maputo on Saturday and Monday, one of which ended with the death of a policeman in a shootout with armed kidnappers on a public road.

“After about 12 years since the first kidnapping, we believe that the government has enough time to apply pressure in a more pragmatic way to put an end to this evil. Therefore, we reaffirm the need for the government to take these measures proposed by the private sector,” said the leader of the Confederation of Economic Associations of Mozambique (CTA), acknowledging the impact of “billions of dollars” on the economy and employment in the country.

“The phenomenon of kidnappings creates an army of unemployed people. With every kidnapping, every time a businessman leaves Mozambique, he leaves behind workers,” Baltasar stressed.

He added that the CTA had held meetings and communications with the government, the latest of which was a letter sent on July 17 to Prime Minister Adriano Maleiana and Interior Minister Pascual Ronda with recommendations after consulting with businessmen.

“The business community as a whole is putting pressure on us to take radical measures to put pressure on the government. You have heard for yourself that businessmen, for example, have threatened to paralyse commercial activity. As leaders, we are coping with this pressure, the government is our partner, so we have chosen dialogue. But at some point, we may not be able to withstand this pressure, and the measures that businessmen are proposing will come into force,” he warned.

In particular, businessmen insist on “strategic measures”, namely, on revising the criminal framework associated with these crimes, because “something needs to change”.

They also want to “strengthen the national security system” by increasing investment in security forces.

“The phenomenon of kidnappings will not be solved by other measures that do not involve serious investments in the Defense and Security Forces, we will not wait for miracles. For example, there is a system already in place that may need repair, needs to be reviewed, the surveillance system in the cities of Maputo and Matola is currently a pilot project and was abandoned at a certain point,” said Pedro Baltasar.

The third measure requested by the CTA is the “establishment and operationalization of a specialized anti-kidnapping brigade,” which has been under government consideration for several years: “We once heard the Prime Minister say that this brigade is already being formed. Go into that speech and the operationalization of this brigade will seem like a distance greater than from here to Pemba. [norte] and we continue to insist that it is of the utmost importance that this brigade be put into service.”

While some businessmen have left Mozambique due to the wave of kidnappings, running their businesses abroad, others do not even risk entering the domestic market, the official said.

“The kidnappings are hampering the intentions of foreign investors in Mozambique. If before 2012 there was a great desire to invest, now those who still hope to invest are held back and do not invest because they are informed by those who are here, seriously considering leaving Mozambique,” he lamented.

Mozambique police have registered a total of 185 kidnapping cases by March and at least 288 people have been detained on suspicion of involvement in the crime since 2011, the interior minister said earlier.