Extremist rebels in Mozambique’s northern Cabo Delgado province killed a worker at the international charity Médecins Sans Frontières, shortly after a former vice president of the organization was asked to produce a report on the humanitarian situation in the conflict-affected region.
Mozambique’s Islamic extremist insurgency, which began in October 2017, is blamed for the deaths of more than 3,000 people and the displacement of an estimated 900,000 people. In March 2021 insurgent violence forced the French company TotalEnergies to suspend its $20 billion liquefied natural gas project in the north of the province. TotalEnergies invoked force majeure after insurgents attacked the city of Palma, very close to the gas project.
Palma was later recaptured by Mozambican and Rwandan forces and the government has urged TotalEnergies to resume work on the gas project.
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Last week, TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne paid a flying visit to Mozambique during which he inspected the gas project site and Palma, as well as the port city of Mocímboa da Praia, once a rebel stronghold. Pouyanne later dined with Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi in the Cabo Delgado provincial capital of Pemba before departing the same day.
Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi shakes hands with TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne. Mozambique has become a hotbed for Islamic insurgents, some of whom killed a Médecins Sans Frontières representative after the NGO inspected the humanitarian situation in their region. (Mozambican Presidency photo via AP)
At the end of the visit of the top executive, TotalEnergies announced the appointment of Jean-Christophe Rufin, “recognized expert in humanitarian actions and human rights”, to undertake “an independent mission to assess the humanitarian situation in the province of Cabo Delgado”. Rufin is a former vice president of Médecins Sans Frontières, known by its French acronym MSF, and former president of the non-governmental organization Action Against Hunger. Rufin was also the French ambassador to the Gambia and Senegal, appointed by then Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, one of the co-founders of MSF.
Rufin’s report is expected in late February and TotalEnergies said it will help it and its consortium partners in the gas project “decide whether the conditions are met to resume project activities.”
“The lifting of force majeure and the resumption of activities at the LNG project site in Mozambique require, in particular, the restoration of security in the region, the resumption of public services and the return to normal life for the population of the region,” Pouyanne said said.
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But while Mozambique’s military and its regional allies have gained ground, the rebels are still able to carry out lethal attacks, including on the main north-south road linking the city of Pemba with the Palma gas project.
On February 1, two vans and a minibus were attacked south of the city of Macomia, killing about seven people, including a nurse, and wounding seven others. The vehicles were left burned on the road, local newspaper Zitamar News reported.
Then on February 4, the day after Pouyanne’s visit, another attack hit the same stretch of road. An MSF staff member, on his day off, was fatally injured while traveling on public transport to visit his family in Pemba, MSF announced. The man was a driver in Macomia for MSF, which he joined in 2019. He is survived by his wife and five children.
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“Today we are saddened by the loss of a colleague who, like all staff, is fully committed to assisting displaced families and often faces significant risks,” said Federica Nogarotto, MSF mission director in Mozambique. “This is a very sad day for us and for our team.”
