Keep off the Makonde affairs, envoy tells imposters

The Mozambican Embassy in Kenya has warned individuals in Kenya presenting themselves as representatives of the Southern East African nation and the Makonde community, living at the Coast.

Mozambique’s High Commissioner to Kenya Jeronimo Chivavi (pictured) described the said individuals as “big liars with intentions of creating problems within the Makonde community.”

As a result, the envoy declared that all communication about Mozambique must be done through his office in Nairobi and the Consulate of Mozambique in Mombasa with the support of the duly authorised representative.

“There are people claiming to be representatives of the Makonde and Mozambique government. They are going to the media to issue reckless statements on behalf of the Makonde and the government. I want to state categorically that those individuals are liars.

“They have not been authorised by anybody to speak on behalf of the government and the Makonde community. The High Commission in Nairobi covers the entire country and is headed by a High Commissioner who is me, accredited to the Kenyan government and with all the powers,” Chivavi told the press at the Mozambique Consulate in Mombasa.

Upcoming elections

He said last year, he wrote to the Foreign Affairs ministry over “individuals purporting to be representatives of the Mozambique government” and further notified Kwale Governor Fatuma Achani of the same.

But in a separate interview, the Makonde community Spokesman in Kwale county Thomas Nguli accused the Mozambique government of illegally registering the Makonde, who have already attained Kenyan citizenship, in readiness for the upcoming Mozambique elections.

“We have suffered a lot having lived stateless in Kenya until we pleaded with the government to register us. Eventually, we were registered in 2016 and given identification the following year. Now we are shocked that the Government of Mozambique is coming back to register us yet we have attained Kenyan citizenship.

“They have gone to the County Commissioner and claimed that they are visiting Mozambique nationals. In the process they started registering them. I have enough evidence because I have seen the documents being used to register people,” Nguli noted.