Growing speculation around attacks on cargo trucks

A much-quoted and quite

probably apocryphal quote

doing the rounds of the Mozambican

freight industry is Renamo leader

Alfonso Dhlakama’s response to

claims that his forces had fired on a

train in an attempt to stop it.

Pointing to the success of Renamo

in destroying bridges and disrupting

transport in northern Mozambique

during the civil war, Dhlakama is

quoted as saying that if he wanted to

stop a train he would blow it or the

track up.

The story reflects the lack of

certainty about just who is behind

the attacks on cargo trucks travelling

between Beira and Malawi and

Zambia.

In June a driver’s assistant was

injured when gunmen fired on

an empty coal train en route from

the port of Beira to the Vale mine

at Moatize in the northern Tete

province.

Bullets fired by the attackers

shattered the windscreen of the

lead locomotive, and Dhlakama’s

response was apparently made when

Renamo fighters were blamed.

Amidst uncertainty come rumours

and conspiracy theories.

It is pointed out that after a second

similar incident where a locomotive

was fired on, Vale suspended exports

along the Sena Line through Beira

and rerouted its coal along a newly

opened line to Nacala.

A 136-km link through Malawi

was largely financed by Vale, and the

line is running at below capacity.

In Nacala vessels can be loaded at

the quayside at a new terminal also

financed by Vale.

Using Beira incurs the additional

cost of transhipment at sea as the

port is too shallow to take the large

bulk vessels.

Depending on who you talk to the

attacks on the trains and trucks are

blamed on Renamo – the official

government line; disgruntled

Frelimo soldiers who have not been

paid (there are reports of protection

money helping trucks to pass

through unmolested); and bandits.