Mozambique has just crossed a remarkable threshold: twelve months without a single reported
kidnapping. For a country that lived under the shadow of abductions for more than fifteen years, this development is striking.
The National Criminal Investigating Service (SERNIC) points to reforms, its transfer to the Attorney General’s Office (PGR), and stronger collaboration with communities and the media as reasons for the change. President Daniel Chapo has been praised for making the fight against organized crime a national priority.
The wave of kidnappings, particularly of business people of Asian origin, had been underway in Maputo, Matola and other Mozambican cities since 2011. It left scars not only on families but also on the economy, scaring investors away and persuading businesses to move their money abroad.
SERNIC Director General Ilídio Miguel recently admitted that some of its own officers had been working handinhand with organized crime groups, undermining the institution’s credibility and its ability to fight back.
The SERNIC, the judicial and criminal investigation police agency, has for over decades been under the supervision of the Police General Command.
Comment
For many Mozambicans, especially business families who once lived in constant fear, the past year has felt like breathing easier for the first time in a long while. But beneath the relief, there is unease. History tells us that lulls in kidnappings or assassinations often follow violent ruptures inside criminal networks. In recent years, several top brass officers and seasoned operatives were gunned down by unknown assailants who were never caught. Whispers in Maputo suggest these deaths may have been the work of police death squads. Whether true or not, the pattern is clear: when key figures are eliminated, assassinations and kidnappings tend to stop, at least for a while.
Between November 2013 and October 2014, two alleged criminals were gunned down on the outskirts of Maputo: Bernardo Timana, father of Arlindo Tivana (who had been sentenced to lengthy prison terms for kidnappings) and Paulo Estêvão Daniel, better known by his alias Danger Man. Their deaths were never fully explained, and speculation grew that they were eliminated by police death squads. After these killings, the waves of crime seemed to take a pause, reinforcing the perception that violent ruptures inside criminal networks often precede periods of calm.
That is why some observers believe the current calm may not be the fruit of reform alone, but also the result of criminals regrouping, watching closely to understand how the authorities are running their operations before deciding their next move. It is a pause, not necessarily an end.
The institutional shift of SERNIC to the Attorney General’s Office adds another layer of complexity. While the move was meant to strengthen oversight, it also meant transferring all the same officers, with the same habits and vices they carried from their years under police command. Without a deep cultural change, the risk is that the old ways simply migrate into the new building.
So, the story of “a year without kidnappings” is not just about numbers. It is about families who can finally sleep without the dread of a phone call in the night. It is about a country that wants to believe in its institutions, but knows too well that silence can be deceptive. The real test will be whether Mozambique can turn this fragile pause into lasting trust, by dismantling networks, holding masterminds accountable, and reforming the culture of those sworn to protect.
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