At the end of the 4th Ordinary Session of the Council of Ministers, held on Tuesday 11 February, the government spokesman told journalists that the increase in the cost of living in the country is a direct consequence of the destruction of commercial establishments during the post-election demonstrations, the Carta de Moçambique news portal reported .
According to the site, the explanation was given by the Minister of State Administration and Civil Service, Inocêncio Impissa, in response to a question from journalists about the blockade of National Road Number One (N1), in the village of Macia, Bilene district, Gaza province.
‘The question is about the blockade of the N1 in Macia, but I’m going to add this to the blockade in the city of Matola. In fact, the increase in the cost of living was a foreseeable consequence of the demonstrations and, in particular, for the city of Matola, in the radius in which this action (blockades) took place. We realised that all the commercial infrastructure (stalls, restaurants, bars, hairdressing salons, warehouses, etc.) was destroyed,’ he said.
In his explanation, Inocêncio Impissa said: ‘The people who lived in the surrounding area didn’t need transport to buy a kilo of rice, sugar or a litre of oil. Today, for the same amount they used to pay at local markets, they have to spend more on transport. The cost of living has risen because, in addition to the money needed to buy, there is now a need for more resources for travelling. This means that the more we destroy, the more expensive life becomes. Stockists today are not restocking their products for fear that the population will loot their establishments. Nobody would invest knowing that the next moment they could be robbed and lose their goods. The environment for investment is becoming increasingly threatened. As these actions continue, the population will suffer even more, because supply reduces and demand increases, creating difficulties in supply. When products become scarce, the tendency is for prices to speculate, which is why there are so many complaints about the cost of living today,’ the minister explained.
Inocencio Impissa
However, he ignored the fact that the generalised and accelerated rise in the prices of essential goods is not only happening in areas where commercial infrastructure has been destroyed. The same scenario is repeated in the Greater Maputo region, in all neighbourhoods, including those where there has been no destruction of stalls or containers.
In his explanation, which centred on the areas where the commercial infrastructure was destroyed by the protests, Inocêncio Impissa did not present any government solutions to respond to the crisis, nor any security guarantees for storekeepers to encourage them to restock their products.
Since the end of December, the cost of living has skyrocketed in the country, particularly in the Maputo Metropolitan Area, with some basic necessities costing almost double the price registered at the beginning of October. Third quality rice, for example, now sells for 2300 meticals for a 25-kilogram bag, compared to 1300 meticals previously.
This situation has generated a new wave of protests, with groups of demonstrators imposing new prices, partly motivated by the measures of Venâncio Mondlane’s first 100 days in office, which stipulate, for example, a maximum price of 300 meticals for a bag of construction cement.
