- Former governors, counselor judges, plus a former PGR, occupied the space that once operated the Maputo Fish Market. The space is claimed by former sellers who, for more than 35 years, occupied it in good faith and developed their seafood activities. What these poor sellers don’t know is that the space is in the hands of influential figures in the corridors of justice, so any legal battle is doomed to failure.
- The elite that is developing a real estate project (building for housing and commerce) have the protection of the Municipality of Maputo, which on several occasions came to the public to defend that there is no room for compensation for former sellers. The Police, for their part, have done their utmost to prevent peaceful demonstrations by former vendors claiming acquired rights over the space.
In the place where the Maputo Fish Market operated for decades, in an informal way, a real estate project is being born, whose works started in May 2022 and end in May 2024. The residential and commercial building, which is a few meters of Marginal de Maputo, is owned by Cooperativa Vila Praia, Lda, a limited company incorporated in May 2020, with a share capital of 500,000 Meticais.
Cooperativa Vila Praia, Lda has 10 members, each with a stake equivalent to 50,000 Meticais. On one hand, it is not new that the space disputed by the former vendors had been allocated to the Frelimo elite, on the other hand it’s surprising to see the presence of former members of the Government, adviser judges (in active and retired), former Attorney General of the Republic and academics in the shareholder structure of Cooperativa Vila Praia, Lda.