This week, the media was "surprised" by information that the Minister of Justice, Constitutional and Religious Affairs, Mateus Saize, refused to use the name ANAMALALA to legitimize Venâncio Mondlane's party.

The expression means "to close, or end", in Portuguese'. It was argued that because it was in the Emákhuwa language, spoken by the majority of Mozambicans in the country's largest constituency, Nampula province, it could have other interpretations in other languages in the country, as well as promoting division among Mozambicans.

Meanwhile, when asked by journalists to explain the reasons for the alleged measure, Saize said he was unaware of any decision on the dossier, not least because it was still being processed.

"It's true that the process is underway in our ministry. It's still going through its procedural steps, and I have no information that there has been any disapproval from this party. It's a request that has been made and is still being processed," he said.

The Minister explained that the time was not ripe for commenting on cases that were still underway, stressing that there would be a notification once a decision had been made.

"At the moment, no decision has been taken," he said.

She was speaking on Wednesday in Maputo, on the sidelines of the national meeting of human rights defenders.