Chaos as Mozambicans protest higher bread prices
MAPUTO, (Reuters)
Streets in Maputo's city centre were eerily deserted after Wednesday's protests which saw seven people, including two children, killed. In other parts of Maputo, witnesses said police opened fire on protestors in the impoverished suburb of Zimpeto but there were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries.
Schools in the capital were closed and many people remained at home to avoid the protests. In the city centre, where hundreds of protestors fought running battles with police on Wednesday, soldiers were clearing up burning barricades where shops were closed and no public transport ran.
Thousands of people angered by a 30 percent increase in the price of bread and higher electricity and water tariffs took to streets in protests which quickly turned violent.
"I opted to join the protests because life is very difficult with these hikes, the government has turned a deaf ear to our long grievances, they only need us during election time," said Teofilo Pedro, a resident of the industrial surbub of Matola on Maputo's outskirts.
UNEMPLOYMENT
Cellphone text messages from unknown senders circulated calling for the protests to continue until Friday. The government has said it was trying to identify the source of the messages.
The government's stand on the price increases seemed bound to further anger Mozambicans who live in one of the world's poorest country with about 70 percent of the 23 million population living below the poverty line.
"There is no employment yet the government is increasing the prices of basic needs. I don't understand why they increased water taffifs when it is not even imported, the rivers are ours but we pay dearly to consume water," said another Matola resident Fabio Joao.
Unemployment in Mozambique stands at 54 percent, according to the government. Cars were stoned and rioters threatened to set them ablaze with many people having to spend the night in their offices because it was too dangerous to go home.
State-run television showed women and young boys, carrying looted bags of rice, fleeing police and other rioters climbing through broken windows to loot shops. Police fired shots in the air to scare off looters but this hardly had any effect and the looting continued. Late on Wednesday night, a Reuters Correspondent on his way home was asked for a lift by several heavily-armed policemen.
After encountering rioters who were hurling rocks and shouting abuse, the police told the Reuters reporter not to proceed any further as the situation was too dangerous.
The protestors used rotten garbage and large rocks as a make-shift barricade and only ran away when the police officers cocked their AK-47 assault rifles. "If the crowd turn violent against us, we will have no choice but to fire straight at them. This is outright theft and not a demonstration," one of the police officers said.
Brands in PABMH Group:
Video
sens
