Two teachers indicted for rape in Inhambane

In the coming days, two educators in Inhambane are scheduled to appear in court on charges of sexual harassment and student rape.

These are teachers from Jangamo's Basica de Macanda and Setembro 25 de Homoíne, two secondary schools.

The ages of the victims are 16 and 13, respectively.

Homoíne's student was invited by the teacher to a meeting allegedly to discuss teaching and learning issues, but when he arrived at the scene, the accused took the minor to a tourist complex where she had sexual relations with the child.

In Jangamo's case, the teacher called his student to wash dishes at his house, and then dragged her to his room, where he satisfied her sexual appetite.
The Provincial Prosecutor's Office in Inhambane spokeswoman, Juliana Boa, expressed assurance that the office will continue with investigating allegations of sexual harassment in the province's schools. 

Inhambane's "the dance of polygamy" is revived by Casimiro Nhussi

The ballet "Polygamy Dance" will premiere on April 19th, at 5 p.m., at the Eduardo Mondlane Industrial and Commercial Institute in Inhambane. The concert, created by VINA Produções, is part of the celebrations of World Dance Day, held yearly on April 29th.

Casimiro Nhussi wrote and artistically directed "The Dance of Polygamy," which premiered in Maputo in 2023, with the goal of exploring the variety of performing arts in theatre, poetry, music, and, most importantly, dance.
"The Dance of Polygamy" offers a discourse on a cultural phenomena of African descent that endures in modern society through the body, representation, and orality.

The ballet will be performed on a gala evening that aims to unite the artists' thoughts and viewpoints on polygamy on stage, both historically and contemporary.

According to Casimiro Nhussi, “The Dance of Polygamy is a rain of melodic movements, of deep feelings that carry the strange emotions of husbands and wives. The Dance of Polygamy is a song and is a love poem trapped in the web of emotions of a human being. It sings the religious and cultural songs of the traditions of a people, it can be danced emotionally or intellectually.”

The ballet also seeks to influence an understanding of the impacts of Polygamy on the promotion of fundamental human rights, look at possible conflicts between tradition, law and gender, as well as reflect on the place of tradition in current society in Mozambique.

The Dance of Polygamy is a shower of beautiful motions and intense emotions that convey the peculiar experiences that spouses and partners experience, according to Casimiro Nhussi. A song and love poetry enmeshed in a person's emotional web is called "The Dance of Polygamy." It can be danced emotionally or intellectually and sings the religious and cultural songs of a people's traditions.

In addition, the ballet aims to examine potential tensions between tradition, law, and gender as well as the role that tradition plays in Mozambique's contemporary society. It also aims to promote awareness of the effects of polygamy on the advancement of fundamental human rights.

Flooding in Matola

Families in various neighbourhoods of Matola, the province of Maputo, leave their homes and spend the night outside.

The Fomento neighborhood's drainage ditch, which gathers rainfall from nearby neighbourhoods, overflowed and filled with debris, making life unbearable for the locals.

Warning: Rainfall in the country's southern area is expected to continue.

A cold frontal system that passes over the country's southern region is expected to bring on more rain, according to the National Institute of Meteorology (INAM).

Forecasts indicate that rain will continue for the next 12 to 24 hours, according to meteorologist Telmo Sumila.

Nevertheless beginning from Tuesday, the southern part of the nation should have better weather, according to INAM.

The province and city of Maputo have seen rainfall totaling about 150 millimetres in the past 24 hours, which is regarded as a significant quantity given the soil's absorption capabilities in this region of the nation.

Heavy rains wreak havoc to Matola and Maputo

Several neighborhoods in the cities of Maputo and Matola are flooded, due to the torrential rain that has fallen since dawn today in these two urban centers.

It is a situation that affects thousands of families, some of which are hit by floods for the second time, due to the recent passage of severe tropical storm Filipo.

The technician from the National Directorate of Water Resources Management, Isac Filimone, says that the situation results from the high housing density, combined with the deficient drainage system in the cities of Maputo and Matola.

The technician from the National Directorate of Water Resources Management recommends taking precautionary measures due to strong water currents in drainage systems as well as rivers in the southern region of the country.

The technician from the National Institute of Meteorology says that the heavy rainfall recorded follows the passage of a cold frontal system that crosses the southern region of the country.

Forecasts, according to Telmo Sumila, point to more rain falling over the next 12 to 24 hours. 

Inam says that conditions in the country's south will improve starting on Tuesday. Over the past 24 hours, Maputo's city and province have seen about 150 millimetres of rain, which is a lot of rain for the soil in this area. Severe Tropical Storm Filipo recently passed through the country's centre and south, resulting in 20 fatalities. According to preliminary data, the storm also injured over 50,000 people.

In addition, 149 dwellings were totally demolished, 2700 partially damaged, and another 6800 homes were flooded as a result of the poor weather.

Along with impacting an area of 26,000 hectares of various crops, the storm also had an impact on 73 health facilities and 271 schools.

Rain brings suffering and devastation to Gaza's city of Xai-Xai.

Hundreds of families in Xai-Xai, Gaza, are without shelter due to flooding resulting from torrential downpours and severe thunderstorms since Saturday's late afternoon. However, several access roads are inaccessible due to the flow of rainwater.

According to Rogerio Manjate, multiple teams from the municipality of Xai-Xai are on the ground assessing the damage caused by the ongoing heavy rain.

Meanwhile, the Meteorological Services in Gaza point out that the rain scenario impacting the coastal area of the districts of Xai-Xai and Limpopo was previously predicted, and they propose preventative measures because it could continue to rain until Monday.

Mozambique: A conjunctivitis outbreak is impacting businesses' production.

Agostinho Vuma, head of Mozambique's Confederation of Economic Associations (CTA), said on Friday in Maputo that the conjunctivitis outbreak in numerous regions of the country is harming business productivity.

"The epidemic of conjunctivitis is harming labour productivity. Companies have started laying off affected employees who have been at home for more than 15 days, impacting corporate performance," Vuma said during the Labour Consultative Commission's first ordinary plenary session, which also includes the government.

According to recent reports from the ministry of health, there are now almost 17,000 Mozambicans afflicted with the adenovirus that causes hemorrhagic conjunctivitis, mostly in the provinces of Nampula and Sofala.

"As a part of society, businesses have an obligation to care for the families who ensure that there will be a market for the goods they create in addition to the workers, who are their most valuable resource. In keeping with this, we would like to express our solidarity with the public being affected by hemorrhagic conjunctivitis and urge everyone to come together and follow the health authorities' guidelines to prevent the disease from spreading and to safeguard everyone's health," Vuma appealed.

On March 11th, according to the official to recent ministry of health data, about 17,000 Mozambicans have been infected with the adenovirus that causes hemorrhagic conjunctivitis, with the majority living in the provinces of Nampula and Sofala.

Conjunctivitis was reported in at least seven Mozambican provinces, with Nampula in northern Mozambique accounting for the majority of occurrences. Meanwhile, on 19 March, the Beira Central Hospital in Sofala province, the country's largest health unit, had seen 2,800 instances of conjunctivitis. Agostinho Vuma also cautioned of Mozambique's "two-speed" economic growth, with positive performance focused in the extractive industry, which is "less than optimal considering the lost value to the economy due to the successive difficulties that have afflicted the business sector".

Many companies have declared bankruptcy as a result of their financial challenges. In this context, it's worth noting that Mozambique's Tax Authority announced a few days ago that 3,000 enterprises had been declared insolvent, with severe consequences for employability, income creation, and the state's ability to collect money," stated the CTA president.

In the same speech, Vuma requested that the draft bill on private security, which "the private sector has been advocating for nearly ten years," be discussed before the Labour Consultative Commission "later this year."

"Unfortunately, insecure job connections have been a defining feature of this industry, which boasts one of the highest employment rates. We think that this situation of insecure work relations might greatly improve with the passage of the law," he stated.

Additionally, he stated that it is important to "emphasise the merits of the document and the benefits" that it "can bring to the fluidity of urban transport" within the "framework of the proposal for the staggering of service timetables," which has been put up by the ministry of transport and communications.

But in order for it to become a reality, the proposer needs to make sure that it complies with the recommendations made by this body's expert technical subcommittees, particularly with reference to the Labour Law.