Maputo, July 18, 2025 (Lusa) - The Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo, in opposition) on Friday described as a “national disgrace” the government’s solution to provide 100 modified tractors with trailers to ensure public transport in rural areas, 50 years after the proclamation of independence.
“Half a century of sovereignty, promises, speeches and hopes renewed with every election. But the reality remains deeply disappointing,” reads a message released today by Renamo.
“Fifty years on, the people expected land, modern transport, paved roads and dignity in public services. Instead, they get tractors,” the party criticises, denouncing what it calls “further proof of the collapse of Frelimo [the ruling Mozambique Liberation Front] governance”.
“A party that, after half a century in power, continues to treat Mozambicans as if they were agricultural cargo, without any serious national development plan. Tractors do not transport dignity. Tractors do not solve the structural problems of rural mobility. Tractors expose Frelimo’s contempt for the humble masses, especially in rural areas,” Renamo points out in its statement, adding that “Mozambique deserves better”.
“The Mozambican people deserve respect, investment and real development, not tractors to fool people into thinking there is progress,” it concludes.
The Mozambican authorities will deliver 100 tractors adapted with trailers for transporting passengers in rural areas with poor roads, to minimise mobility difficulties, with the first 12 distributed in Cabo Delgado, it was announced on Thursday.
According to the chairman of the board of directors of the Transport and Communications Development Fund (FTC), Paulo Ricardo, these tractors are vehicles with “conditions created for transport” with “comfort”.
“They have been specially adapted to this reality,” said the chairman during the handover ceremony in that northern province of Mozambique.
The cabins of these adapted tractors have been prepared to protect passengers from heat, dust and rain, including padded seats and protective barriers, he explained, adding that not all regions will need this type of transport solution.
This transport model, consisting of a tractor with a closed trailer with seats, had already been introduced in 2024 in the administrative post of Lunga, in Nampula province.
The Mozambican government intends to purchase 390 buses to strengthen urban and rural public transport in the country, nearly half of which will be powered by natural gas, according to information from the public tender announced in March this year by Lusa.
The public tender launched by the the Transport and Communications Development Fund, open until March 25, establishes the supply of buses for urban transport and multi-purpose vehicles for rural transport, in batches.
The first batch involves the acquisition of 100 large buses powered by Natural Gas for Vehicles (NGV) for the Maputo Metropolitan Area, and the second batch provides for the purchase of 50 medium-sized buses, also powered by NGV, for the Mozambican capital.
The third batch provides for 100 medium-sized diesel-powered buses "intended for the provinces", the fourth batch for another 100 "vehicles typical for public transport in rural areas" and the fifth batch for 40 buses to transport employees of the country’s public institutions.
In the public tender information, the the Transport and Communications Development Fund explains that in “promoting a balance between population growth and investment in human development”, the Mozambican government considers urban and rural public passenger transport to be a crucial factor for socio-economic development, due to its contribution to productivity and improving quality of life.
PVJ/AYLS // AYLS
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