Mozambique

The death toll in Mozambique from Cyclone Chido has risen to 45, officials said Wednesday. Luisa Meque, chairperson of the National Disaster Risk Management Institute (INGD), said the storm has also left 500 people injured and destroyed around 35,000 homes in the northern provinces of Niassa, Nampula and Cabo Delgado, which have suffered massive destruction. “Much as the storm has calmed down, there is a likelihood that the number of fatalities is going to rise, as we are still assessing the extent of the damage,” Meque said. Around 2.5 million people are said to be affected by the cyclone, she added. According to Louise Eagleton, UNICEF Country Representative in Mozambique, around 90,000 children have been “worst affected” by the cyclone. “Almost in all the affected communities, there are growing numbers of affected children. These are children who are struggling to find sustenance and shelter. Children are bearing the blunt of the cyclone. The current situation in the country is heart-rending,” Eagleton said. On Wednesday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) disbursed $4 million in an emergency response to the cyclone. In neighboring Malawi, according to the country’s Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA), the death toll has reached 13 and 45,000 people in five districts of the southern region have been rendered homeless. On Dec. 15, Tropical Cyclone Chido made landfall in Mozambique, bringing strong winds, thunderstorms and heavy rainfall exceeding 250 millimeters (9.84 inches) in 24 hours. The cyclone then moved to Malawi.

At least five people were killed and three others seriously injured in protests across Mozambique, including in Maputo, Nampula, and Zambezia, according to police reports. Orlando Mudumane, spokesman for the Police General Command, stated that violent clashes erupted between police and protesters armed with stones, knives, and machetes. The demonstrations were reportedly organized by Venancio Mondlane, a defeated presidential candidate, who claimed that the October 9 election results were fraudulent and declared himself the winner. From his refuge in South Africa, Mondlane called for a nationwide protest from December 4 to 11, aiming to block key infrastructure such as roads, railways, ports, and airports to “restore the truth” about the elections. Outgoing President Filipe Nyusi warned that the unrest could disrupt public sector salary payments, particularly for teachers and nurses, due to Mozambique’s lack of external financial support. Protests escalated in Matola after a 13-year-old boy was fatally shot by a plainclothes police officer. In response, residents blocked access to the Beleluane Industrial Park, home to the Mozal aluminum plant, temporarily halting the company’s truck operations.