Undiplomatic diplomats

Plus: Nyusi wants $4.5bn for Mozambican agriculture

Good afternoon. A week on from former President Armando Guebuza’s 80th birthday symposium, the event is back in the spotlight, with weekly paper Savana putting it on its front page today, illustrated with a cartoon of Guebuza and his successor, Filipe Nyusi, squaring up in a boxing ring.

Savana, or at least the media company that owns it, MediaCoop, played its own part in the event, with head of editorial Fernando Goncalves having been one of the MCs, alongside Armindo Chavana, Guebuza’s private secretary and chairman of the Mediacoop General Assembly.

Furthermore, a director of the company, António Gumende, was one of the speakers at the event — where he took direct aim at one of President Nyusi’s proudest achievements.

Gumende was a journalist before President Joaquim Chissano appointed him Mozambique’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. From there, he was then appointed by Guebuza to be Ambassador to the United Nations in New York — an experience he spoke about at the symposium last week. Guebuza, he said, had warned him not to get distracted by the idea of trying to get Mozambique a non-permanent seat on the Security Council. “Our priority is the domestic agenda and development and the fight against poverty, and not representation on that organ, which could cause us to be diverted from the essential,” he recalled Guebuza saying. Membership of the UNSC has been achieved under Nyusi, and considered a major step for the country.

Gumende’s comment can be seen here from 1hr48mins.

Another ostensible diplomat is in the news this week: Salimo Abdula, better known as the head of a business empire which flourished particularly in the Guebuza years. He’s a rich man, and cuts his clothes to fit his cloth — driving luxury cars to posh restaurants where he smokes expensive cigars.

According to a document doing the rounds, Abdula imported a Rolls-Royce Cullinan in 2022 valued at around $400,000 — and got an exemption for import duty. The reason for the exemption seems to be because he is honorary consul for Malaysia. As a diplomat, he can import any car he likes, duty free.

But it has gone down very badly with Mozambicans struggling with the cost of living — on top of the poverty which, despite Guebuza’s apparently unshakable focus, remains severe and widespread in Mozambique. The case is a stark reminder that this is a country of a few haves, and mostly have-nots.

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