Maputo — The cities of Maputo and Matola on Wednesday morning saw unrest with streets being obstructed with rubbish and large obstacles such as electricity poles and burning tyres. Passing vehicles were stoned.

The protests were triggered by the rising prices of water, energy, bread and other consumer goods.

The unrest in the two cities has caused transport disruption, leaving many people unable to get to work. The fleet of mini buses (colloquially known as "chapas") that transport people from the periphery of the city has been reduced considerably, with great floods of passengers waiting at terminals.

Along the main streets, in both directions, the scenario witnessed by AIM was a pilgrimage of workers, students and other citizens walking to their place of work because of the lack of transport.

At terminal T3, for example, the minibuses were parked and not operating because the drivers were concerned about the threat.

Several police units have been dispatched to tackle the unrest. The General Command of the Police warned of the illegality of the alleged movement against the rising cost of living in the country. AIM received an anonymous telephone call from someone claiming to represent this "movement".

Police Spokesperson Pedro Cossa said that no application had been made to any administrative, district or provincial authority to carry out demonstrations, as required by the law on the rights of the citizen.

According to Cossa, the fact that the leaders of the unrest have not observed the legal procedures is an affront to the law, and for that reason the police will treat any action taken by those associated with the warning message, distributed through both the mobile phone networks, as a threat to public order and tranquillity.

New tariffs for water and electricity entered into force today, with electricity prices rising by up to 13.4 per cent. Water prices have risen by about 11.7 per cent.