Mozambique is losing the information war
Mozambique is losing the information war
The Mozambique government is leaving communication from the battlefield to its allies, and its enemies
Good afternoon. Unfortunately we have to return to the question of the army statement that wasn’t — or perhaps was. Shortly after we informed our readers yesterday that the statement, first circulated on Wednesday afternoon, was fake, it emerged that the news might have been real all along.
The problem is that the Mozambican authorities have still not released anything officially. The first press release came from an official at the defence ministry, and was quickly shared by Brito Simango, a reporter for state television TVM and the government’s usual mouthpiece when it comes to the conflict in Cabo Delgado. It was Simango who then said, on his Facebook page, that it was fake news — a post he then went on to delete, though by then he had also deleted the initial news report. We checked with an official at the defence ministry, who confirmed for us that the news was fake.
However, shortly after we sent yesterday’s Daily Briefing, Simango re-published the news on Facebook, saying it had been confirmed by a defence ministry official. He told one person who questioned his flip-flopping that it was because there had been some small errors in the first version. Sure enough, the claim of having killed 14 insurgents had been revised, to 12.
No new version of the FADM press release has been published, however, so although Simango is, as noted, a government mouthpiece, a Facebook post of his is not really enough to go on. Even the FADM press release was dubious: it wasn’t published on an official website, or sent (at least to Zitamar) from an official source.
Let’s be frank: Mozambique is doing a terrible job of communicating what is going on in this war. If the principal reason for the expulsion of the founders of Zitamar News in 2021 was, as is broadly assumed, the challenge that we presented (and continue to present) to the government’s ability to control the narrative in Cabo Delgado, you would think that the government would at least make a reasonable attempt to forge that narrative. But it does not.
Instead, and while it remains practically impossible for independent Mozambican journalists to report on the ground there, the field is left to foreign journalists, foreign armies, and the insurgency itself.
As we report today, for example, the Rwandan military and police contingent has now deployed to Ancuabe, in southern Cabo Delgado, having previously been confined to Palma and Mocímboa da Praia. Our source for this news? The Rwandan Ministry of Defence. Not the government of Mozambique, whose sovereign territory Ancuabe is, and which ought to take responsibility for the safety of civilians living there.
Meanwhile, the Islamic State’s own news and propaganda operation is becoming more and more sophisticated, with photographs accompanying detailed and, as far as we can tell, accurate reports from its operations on the ground.
Our colleagues at Integrity Magazine are also frustrated — and suggest today that it is time for Mozambique’s Gabinete de Informação to step up and start providing credible information on what is happening in the country. A weekly publication, as they propose, is surely not the right solution; but some kind of communication between the government and press is badly needed.
Agenda:
The latest from Zitamar News:
Rwandan’s Mozambique deployment expands to southern Cabo Delgado
Rwandan security forces have assumed responsibility for the defence of Ancuabe district from insurgents.
UK investment in Mozambique LNG project lawful, London court finds
A London court ruled today that the UK's $1.15bn investment in the Mozambique LNG project, operated by TotalEnergies, is lawful, rejecting a challenge brought by environmental group Friends of the Earth
From the Zitamar Live Blog:
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Annual inflation fell in December to 10.28%, according to figures published this week by statistics office INE
💥 Conflict updates:
10 January 2023: N380 road, Macomia/Muidumbe districts, Cabo Delgado
Following a surprise attack on a Mozambican Armed Defence Forces garrison at Xitaxi, in Muidumbe, insurgents temporarily set up a roadblock on the N380 highway connecting Muidumbe and Macomia districts. Photos published in Islamic State-affiliated newspaper Al Naba show three armed insurgents standing guard in front of a makeshift barricade in daylight.
Also in the news:
Mother of alleged kidnapper shot dead in Maputo
Schools reopen in Cabo Delgado while education enrolment falls in Niassa
Alfredo Nuvunga appointed as Mozambique's ambassador to the US
Heavy rain causes five deaths in Nampula
Eskom secures electricity tariff increase but less than requested
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