TIPS Project | Stories of Change
Restoring Peace in the Community of Maumbina in Mozambique
Maumbina community in the district of Sanga is experiencing moments of peace as a result of the ‘Towards Peaceful and Inclusive Societies in Mozambique’ (TIPS) project’s capacity-building activities supporting civil society, paralegals, authorities, and other influential stakeholders. Maumbina is approximately 300 kilometers from the capital city of Lichinga in Niassa province, northern Mozambique. A key income-generating activity in Maumbina is artisanal mining and sale of precious stones, which was also one of the primary sources of conflict between the local authorities, the prospectors, and the community.
Maumbina is one of several communities that has benefited from the TIPS project. Activities implemented by the project enabled grassroots actors and provincial level authorities to have greater collaboration and mutual learning between these entities regarding the management of natural resources.
“Learning through the project’s training has been impactful. Today, we are stronger and more capable of fighting for the common good of our communities. The project has instilled in all the actors the need to promote dialogue in order to resolve any conflict, especially in the exploration of natural resources,”
explained Hussene Majolela, 46, Paralegal and Chair of the Community Funds Management Committee and project participant who received training and support through the TIPS project.
Previously, Majolela explains, the mining of natural resources in Maumbina was problematic, with prospectors traveling to neighbouring Tanzania to sell the precious stones. At the time, communication between the communities, mining companies, and government authorities was tense, with little to no dialogue. Further, the authorities would use police force and legal instruments at their disposal to harass and beat up the artisanal miners to discourage the illegal mining and ensure safety for the miners.
“The project’s activities contributed to the formalization of the association of artisanal miners called CHIGANGA, which in English means stone. This unionization of the miners was a win-win for us and for other development actors. From that moment on, peace was restored, and dialogue began to flow. We are already marketing our precious stones within the country, and we are automatically valuing our currency, the Metical,”
said Hussene Majolela, adding that most of the people who mine for resources are young people aged between 20 and 35, although recognizing that there are also adults in their 50s. As an impact of the association formed for the miners, some members were able to earn enough to build their homes and are living a dignified life with their families.
“At the moment, the association is only able to support the families of its members with money or transport to funeral ceremonies,” he noted, while recognising that the project activities have changed the way the community and different actors live together. Majolela explains that it took a considerable amount of time for many artisanal miners to change their way of thinking from individual to collective mining. Some were hesitant to recognize the benefits of forming an association. They believed it was the best strategy to work individually and sell their products and precious stones wherever and to whomever they wanted, while implementing their own tax rates.
In the past, the mechanisms for dialogue between the communities and the different players, including the private sector and government authorities, were restricted, partly due to the fragility of the communities themselves, and partly due to the reluctance of the government authorities to do right by the communities. “The players are more open to dialogue, and we are respected. Our association is already recognized by government,” he noted.
“The training courses have had a positive impact on the life of my community. We have been able to manage problems independently, and when the issue is bigger and beyond our control, we communicate with the government authorities and reach a consensus.”
About the TIPS Project
‘Towards an Inclusive and Peaceful Society in Mozambique‘ (TIPS) is a European Union-funded project implemented between January 2021 to December 2023, which seeks to contribute to conflict prevention, crisis preparedness and response, and peacebuilding through an inclusive nautral resources governance and management in Mozambique. The project is implemented by a consortium of actors comprised of Finn Church Aid and the Peacemakers Network, Institute of Social and Economic Studies (Instituto de Estudos Sociais e Económicos-IESE) and the Institute for Multiparty Democracy (Instituto para a Democracia Multipartidaria) in collaboration with the Council of Religions in Mozambique (Conselho das Religiões em Moçambique – COREM).
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