Archbishop Inacio Saure of Nampula gave a press conference on 3 September denouncing the illegal occupation of Catholic church land. The land was occupied during the protests early this year. Courts on 16 May and 12 August ordered the squatters to leave, but local government did nothing. Archbishop Saure said: “Officials who were sent there were chased away. This arrogance leads us to believe that there is a powerful and invisible hand" behind the invasions, guaranteeing impunity for the occupiers.

He believes that the land seizure may be retaliation for the bishops speaking out over electoral fraud and other issues. Saure met with Nampula governor Eduardo Mariano Abdula who did nothing. This was probably because Saure had earlier forced Abdula to publicly apologise for the provincial head of the veterans association saying “Frelimo will govern until Jesus Christ returns to Earth.”

Dom Inacio Saure concluded "We have lawyers, we have documents, but the law does not work when it comes up against powerful people." (Jornal Ngani, 8 Sept; Vatican News 4 Sept)