Kidnappings and the Lack of Seriousness from State Leaders
In the span of two days, Mozambique was hit by two grim pieces of news related to kidnappings, a menace that has plagued the country since the end of 2011. The first concerns the kidnapping on the morning of Sunday, February 11, of yet another businessman, as has become the trend, of Asian descent.
The victim, named Cláudio Dharmendra, was abducted from inside his bottle store near the Military House, the institution responsible for the security of the President of the Republic.
The second piece of news is about the announcement by the Public Prosecutor's Office on Tuesday, February 13, of the discovery of the body of a Pakistani national kidnapped on October 3, 2022.
The body of the citizen, known in life as Ahmed Ali, was found dismembered in the backyard of the same house where the victim was held captive.
In the statement, the PGR mentioned, "Upon conducting the necessary investigations, it was possible to identify a body buried underground, and preliminary examinations suggest characteristics similar to those of the victim."
These two news items, which are our focus, reveal a lack of seriousness in the fight that is supposed to be against kidnappings, forcing us to assert that there is no political will to combat kidnappings.
But let's address these issues one at a time. Regarding the first news item, if a kidnapping occurs in a military zone, it conveys the idea that kidnappers can take anyone they want, wherever they want. Looking at the last three kidnappings and two thwarted attempts, it's clear that the kidnappers are comfortable. They act as if they have police cover. They don't bother to hide their identities. They use weapons that only the state possesses. The way these groups operate is simply terrifying. Any serious state manager, tasked with preventing and combating crime, should be disturbed by what is happening, and even consider resigning.
Regarding the second piece of news, it's saddening to hear from the Public Prosecutor's Office that efforts were made to locate the body of Ahmed Ali.
Ahmed Ali was in the hands of kidnappers for more than a year and a half, and the state failed to locate his captivity for rescue. Now that he is dead, efforts were made to find the captivity location and where the body was buried? What efforts were actually made? Isn't the PGR essentially admitting to the Mozambican people’s stupidity?
Those tasked with combating kidnappings are not taking the issue seriously.
We have been trying to create an anti-kidnapping brigade for over three years, with the risk of not achieving it in this term ending in January 2025. To us, this is too long for an issue that affects a country's security and economy. This forces us to conclude that the issue is not being taken seriously, which fuels the narrative of a lack of political will to eradicate the problem.
