The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) army foiled a coup attempt against the government of President Felix Tshisekedi in the early hours of Sunday.
According to local and international reports, three people were killed by the army as they attempted to storm the presidential palace, and about 50 people were arrested, including three United States citizens.
Crucially, amongst the dead is a businessman turned coup leader, Christian Malanga, who had interests in mining, building security, education, and health in Mozambique.
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Seemingly, Malanga’s Rolodex had such names as that of retired General Alberto Chipande, the patriarch of the Makonde ethnic group, which includes President Filipe Nyusi. Malanga visited Chipande about eight months ago, according to a video posted on his LinkedIn page.
By then, Malanga self-described himself as the President of New Zaire in Exile, which should have rung bells in diplomatic circles in Maputo, considering that Mozambique and the DRC are part of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). However, nobody paid heed and it is likely Maputo had to assure Kinshasa that it was just an honest faux pas, in no way it meant recognising his political cause.
But since one of Malanga’s residents was the neighbouring Kingdom of Eswatini, it would be safe to assume that solicitous functionaries in Mozambique’s High Commission there might have facilitated his entrance into Mozambique and Chipande’s contacts – it is interesting to point out that one Alberto Chipande Jr works at the High Commission in Eswatini.
Meanwhile, the Chipande Foundation has issued a statement denying any involvement in any of Malanga’s illicit activities, and condemned the attempted coup.
But this has always been one of the major problems confronting the ruling Frelimo party, that is, some of its high-profile members will strike relationships with shady characters. In April 2020, Mozambique’s Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC) arrested the Brazilian drug kingpin Gilberto Aparecido dos Santos, known as Fuminho, at a luxury hotel in Maputo.
Sources say that Fuminho, who had been on the run since 1999 when he escaped a Brazilian prison, had bought protection in Mozambique from local Frelimo oligarchies and politicians that are increasingly greedy for power and wealth, and who deal with national affairs in their own homes, putting the country on the trail of international criminals and dragging the prestige of the organisation they are supposed to serve and the state through the mud. This cover-up gives material advantages to certain groups they use to influence domestic politics and power within Frelimo, appearing as political oligarchs.
For example, the capture of the security cluster by the Makonde ethnic group through the appointment of individuals from their group or allies obeys this logic of enriching themselves at any cost and more than others. The gas business, the logistics of the war, state procurement, and the awarding of contracts to international investors or foreigners is no longer done by the state, but directly by people like General Chipande who think that the liberation war was for this purpose: to get rich.
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