MOZAMBIQUE: “THERE ARE NO RWANDAN TROOPS IN MAPUTO” – SPOKESPERSON FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF .

The spokesperson for the Government of Rwanda, Yolande Makolo, said this Sunday that the Rwandan armed forces do not have troops in Maputo, in the operations that attempt to control the post-election demonstrations, contradicting several messages that have been circulating for several days.

.” There are no Rwandan troops in Maputo. Rwandan Security Forces are deployed strictly in Cabo Delgado province, in joint operations with Mozambican forces against extremist Islamist fighters that have been terrorizing residents in the province.”, wrote Yolande Makolo, on her official account on the social network X, in a response to a message from another user.

“This is a lie”, she also said, in response to the same message, about the rumours circulating in Maputo about the mobilization of Rwandan forces and armoured vehicles to the capital, in view of the demonstrations that continue to take place, contesting the election results.

A force of more than 2,000 Rwandan soldiers, which began to be reinforced last April, has been fighting terrorist groups that have been operating for seven years in the province of Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique, since 2021, notably protecting the area where the French company TotalEnergies has a project to explore natural gas, following an agreement between the two governments.