The troublesome district of Balama

The local authorities, and Syrah Resources, need to get used to a degree of scrutiny that befits the significance of Balama's graphite mine

The police in the Cabo Delgado district of Balama have had a busy few weeks. Their latest eye-catching move has been to arrest the journalist Arlindo Chissale, founder and editor of Pinnacle News, the social media-based news outlet that tens of thousands of Mozambicans rely on for updates on the situation in Cabo Delgado and beyond. (For more on this story, read the summary below, above the paywall.)

What Chissale was doing in Balama, one of the few districts in Cabo Delgado which has not yet been touched by the violence, is so far unknown. But the district is not without relevance to the country at large — and indeed the world. It hosts the Twigg graphite mine, owned by Australia’s Syrah Resources, who claim it is the largest graphite mine in the world. It is already one of Mozambique’s most significant exporters, mostly to China, but is increasingly figuring in the US’s plans to grow its electric car industry.

But while Syrah’s US operations continue to win favour from customers and grants and soft loans from the Biden administration, the mine in Balama has been plagued by a labour dispute. Syrah says a strike by workers was illegal; the workers say their union is not representing their interests, so they were left with no choice but to stage an unofficial walkout.

Last week, the strikers went back to work — fearing, they told Zitamar, that a recent attack on a ruby mine less than 100km away could mean that protesters in Balama might also be tarred with the brush of insurgency. Nevertheless, after going back to work, the leader of the wildcat strike has been arrested by local police — violently so, according to our sources.

Given the relevance of the graphite mining project, a team of local and international journalists visited last month, on behalf of international publications including Zitamar News. Following the visit, at least one local source who spoke to the journalists found themself under investigation by the local police.

The authorities in Balama are acting as if it were their remote fiefdom, where dissent can be squashed without attracting the eyes of the world. That may have been the case before; but as the host of one of Mozambique’s most significant mega-projects, the local authorities, and Syrah Resources, need to get used to a degree of scrutiny which they may not like, but which is entirely appropriate.

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Agenda:

• Today: Foreign minister Veronica Macamo meets with UN secretary general António Guterres on a visit to the UN headquarters in New York

  • The visit is in preparation for Mozambique taking its non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council

  • Yesterday, Macamo met with the permanent representatives of Brazil and the USA

  • During her visit she will also meet the permanent representatives of Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, and Mali, and visit the African Union’s observation mission and the Tanzanian permanent mission

• Today-tomorrow: EU-African, Caribbean, Pacific States Joint Parliamentary Assembly (EU-ACP JPA) meeting continues in Maputo

• Today: Start of the new duty paid ‘seals’ regime on alcoholic drinks. Any new alcoholic drinks coming to the market in Mozambique must now have the paper seals on them

  • This measure has been fiercely opposed by beer producers who say it places insupportable extra costs on their operations. It is going ahead anyway

• Tomorrow: IMF resident representative in Mozambique Alexis Meyer-Cirkel to present at the private sector association CTA’s annual Economic Briefing

• Tomorrow-Fri: Bank of Mozambique’s annual Consultative Council, this year taking place in Beira under the title Challenges and opportunities of the sugar industry in Mozambique: the case of Sofala province

• Thursday: The Constitutional Council meets

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The latest from Zitamar News:

Two dead and 1,000 displaced after insurgency reaches district of Namuno
Armed insurgents disguised as Mozambican soldiers launched an unprecedented incursion into Namuno district on Saturday morning, killing two and forcing 1,000 to flee

European Union grants €148.2m for Mozambique development programmes
The biggest donation, of €60m, supports education reforms, while there is also €35m for 'resilience' in Mozambique's northern provinces, and €18.2m for Mozambique's National Control Centre for Energy

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From the Zitamar Live Blog:

Another kidnapping in Maputo
One of the owners of furniture store Home Center, 33-year-old Hussein Gamad Hassan, was kidnapped today outside the store on Maputo's Avenida Angola. Reports say the kidnappers were armed with automatic AKM rifles

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Also in the news:

• Leading Cabo Delgado journalist missing, believed detained (Integrity Magazine)

• Ossufo Momade makes more changes at the top of Renamo (Integrity Magazine)

• Workers and government welcome business proposal on minimum wage (O País)

• Teachers threaten to strike as MDM joins in new pay scale condemnation (O País, O País)

• Mozambique requests arms from the European Union (Lusa)

• Security guard arrested for uncovering timber smuggling scheme (Evidências)

• Government to share extractive industry revenues with provinces (Rádio Moçambique)

• Nampula district received 9,000 displaced people since September (Lusa)

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

Leading Cabo Delgado journalist missing, believed detained (Integrity Magazine)
The founder and editor of Pinnacle News, the Nacala-based journalist Arlindo Chissale, has been held since last Friday by police in Balama, Cabo Delgado. The reasons for his arrest are not known, but Integrity Magazine cites a source in Balama saying a person was arrested last week for taking photos of public institutions. Chissale had been seen by other journalists in Pemba before travelling with his camera to Balama. Chissale is not contactable by telephone, but Integrity reports he was due to be released, this afternoon.
Chissale, and the Pinnacle News service that he established initially on Facebook but which reaches a wide audience through various social media, have been one of the key sources of news on the conflict in Cabo Delgado since an Islamist insurgency began there more than five years ago. Taking photos is something which often provokes the police to make arrests, though it is not illegal. For more on this topic, read today’s Leader at the top of this newsletter.