Last Monday (8th), the government announced its commitment to reopen, later this year, the crucial Namoto border post, which links Mozambique to Tanzania. The province of Cabo Delgado, where it is located, has been ravaged by a persistent armed insurgency that has now lasted five long years.
"We are determined to restore traffic at Namoto in the near future, for the relief and benefit of our population", said Mozambique's Minister of the Interior, Arsénia Massingue, after a meeting with provincial leaders.
The minister assured that efforts are being made to ensure that the infrastructure has the "minimum essential conditions for Mozambicans to be able to use this important crossing point again", without, however, mentioning a specific date for the reopening.
It was at Namoto that hundreds of Mozambicans sought refuge during the terrible attacks of March and April 2021 in Palma, a village where natural gas projects are being developed. The displaced, in search of safety, tried to cross the Rovuma river into Tanzania.
The province of Cabo Delgado has been the scene, since 2017, of a conflict that terrorises and afflicts the local population. Armed rebel groups have carried out pillaging and massacres in villages and towns throughout the province, with several attacks claimed by the group affiliated with the self-proclaimed Islamic State in the region. According to data from The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, the conflict has already claimed more than 4,000 lives and, according to estimates by the Mozambican authorities, forced at least one million displaced people to leave their homes.
