Kidnap suspect arrest raises hopes for justice

Mozambique has let the kidnapping situation fester for too long

There are signs that Mozambique is finally getting serious about tackling the scourge of kidnapping — and that the institutions of justice are facing up to their own involvement.

The arrest at the weekend of a suspected kingpin in South Africa has raised hopes that a real ‘big fish’ is now in the net — although justice must yet run its course.

The national criminal investigation service has also admitted this week that some of its members may be involved in kidnapping rings. The first step to dealing with a problem is admitting that you have one, so this looks like progress.

But the interior minister’s claim, at the same meeting, that 10 out of 13 kidnappings that happened last year were solved by the police, does not ring true. Perhaps that many ended with the victims being released;  but the most common way of achieving that outcome is still that the family pays a huge ransom. Hardly justice.

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Today’s headlines:

• Case against alleged Mozambican kidnapping kingpin postponed

• Justice staff complicit in kidnappings, says Sernic chief

• Energy production to drop 12% in 2023

Today’s front pages in Maputo. Photo © Faizal Chauque / Zitamar News