The districts of Palma and Mocímboa da Praia, in northern Mozambique, will have new court and civil registry buildings, the Minister of Justice said yesterday. The current ones were destroyed by the armed conflict in Cabo Delgado.
“The solution is to demolish and build a new building,” said Helena Kida, explaining what will be done in one district as well as in another, after a reconnaissance visit to villages affected by the armed insurgency and liberated in 2021.
“In the case of the registry and notary office, the project is already planned and the United Nations Development Programme [UNDP] has already assumed” its implementation, she added.
Until the work is concluded, brigades for registering births will remain on the ground and the government hopes that they will also start processing identity cards.
The courts are due to be built as part of the government’s “One District, One Court” initiative.
The premises of other justice administration bodies, such as prosecutors’ offices, penitentiaries and residences of public prosecutors, were also destroyed.
Rehabilitation works
The minister said that these facilities will also benefit from rehabilitation works.
Cabo Delgado province has been facing an armed insurgency for five years with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.
The insurgency has led to a military response since July 2021 with support from Rwanda and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), liberating districts near gas projects (such as Palma and Mocímboa da Praia), but new waves of attacks have emerged south of the region and in neighbouring Nampula province.
The conflict has already left one million people displaced, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and around 4,000 dead, according to the ACLED conflict registration project.
Lusa