The telephone and internet service provider, Mozambique Telecom (Tmcel) has ordered the government websites (gov.mz) to be taken offline, which have been inactive since Thursday, according to a source linked to the Ministry of Transport and Communications.

The source close to the process revealed to MZNews that the decision was made because some state institutions, whose portals are under the management of the National Institute of Electronic Government (INAGE), have not yet paid a debt to Tmcel.

In this sense, continued the source, only an early agreement to fill the balance of these public institutions, including public universities, can bring back the government portals, as long months of fruitless negotiations have already passed.

Not all portals with the extension "gov.mz" are inoperative. The portals "portaldogoverno.gov.mz/; http://www.at.gov.mz; https://www.inatter.gov.mz/" and several others are inactive. The portal of the Mozambique National Institute of Communications (INCM) - Regulatory Authority of the Postal and Telecommunications Sectors - is working.

Recall that until March 31 this year the state and public universities owed Tmcel about 929 million meticais, of which 559 million meticais are debts of "large state institutions", according to the newspaper "Savana".

Tmcel has not paid the salaries of its about 1,800 workers since April, and altogether the company is in the region of 120 million meticais. Added to this are the debts that Tmcel has with banks inherited from the defunct companies TDM and mCel.