The Mozambican government can, depending on the situation, curtail the universal right to communication through internet access. This is the tenor of a message passed on to religious leaders by members of the political elite.

According to the election bulletin of the Center for Public Integrity (CIP), members of the government met with religious leaders on November 1st. The information provided was that the government can definitively cut off internet access as it sees fit, as China and Iran do, for example.

The document states that representing the executive were the Minister for the Interior, Pascoal Ronda, the Minister for State Administration and the Civil Service, Ana Comoana, and the Deputy Minister for Justice, Constitutional and Religious Affairs, Filimão Suaze.

"At the same meeting, which was attended by representatives of some of the churches and religions in Mozambique, the government called Venâncio Mondlane a moluene (marginal) responsible for the situation the country is experiencing," we read.

Some church representatives supported the government's pronouncements and others preferred to remain silent. One of the biggest supporters was Pastor José Guerra, president of the Universal Church in Mozambique and a member of the Maputo Municipal Assembly for the Frelimo party, writes the NGO.