The replacement in late AUG. of the Interior Minister ARSÉNIA MASSINGUE by PASCOAL RONDA (PAR) is seen by the opposition not only as a response to the police inefficiency in the fight against organized crime, in particular kidnappings, but also to the need to prepare the “elections operation”, which will cover the upcoming ones but also the presidential and general elections of OCT.

PAR is considered by the opposition as part of the ‘hardcore wing’ of FRELIMO, and is widely considered responsible for the detention and subsequent death in imprisonment of several members of RENAMO in Cabo Delgado in the electoral process of 1999, when the current minister commanded the police. READ MORE