The Administrative Court (TA) provisionally suspended the order that sets the toll rates on the four toll roads of the Maputo Ring Road, this Friday (28), according to the Center for Democracy and Development (CDD).

In accordance with Article 138(1) of Law No. 7/2014 of 28 February, Rede Viária de Moçambique - REVIMO S.A "shall not start with the collection of toll fees on the Maputo Ring Road while the provisional suspension of the order that set the fees to be charged for the impoverishment of citizens is in effect," reads the CDD document that MZNews had access to today.

This is a joint decree issued by the Minister of Public Works, Housing and Water Resources, Osvaldo João Machatine, and the Minister of Economy and Finance, Adriano Maleiane, published in the Bulletin of the Republic, on Friday, January 24, 2022, Number 10, First Series, which sets the rates to be charged on the toll roads of Costa do Sol, Zintava, Kumbeza and Matola Gare.

The CDD mentions that the TA did so following the processing of an injunction that it had submitted to that court.

"Under the law applicable to the case, once the Ministers have formally taken cognizance of the process, the order setting the toll rates is automatically suspended until the final decision of the court that will declare or not the [definitive] suspension, with sufficient grounds in light of the law and justice," the note clarifies.

O CDD and the Center for Public Integrity (CIP) have been the two Mozambican NGOs with the greatest social intervention to make the Government back down from the decision to charge toll fees.

One of the major arguments that the two institutions raise is the lack of alternative routes for those who cannot pay the tolls to continue reaching their desired destinations. In the perception of NGOs, the Mozambican State is forcing citizens to pay the fees. And, another argument is the possible unconstitutionality in the concession of the Maputo ring road to a private company - in which any Mozambican can be a shareholder - Rede Viária de Moçambique, SA (REVIMO), without the due public tender, that is, by direct adjustment without grounds, as required by law. On the other hand, because the concession to REVIMO occurred without the company having sufficient years and work experience in road aerial work to justify the concession. REVIMO was awarded the Maputo ring road concession after only 18 months of existence, according to CIP.