When The New Times visited Mute, a village located 32 kilometers from the Rwandan security forces’ base camp in Afungi, Palma district, on September 29, children as young as four, or five, were playing in the compound of Escola Primaria Completa de Mute, a primary school near the Palma-Mocimboa da Praia main highway. It was such a joy seeing their cheerful innocent faces. In spite of the high temperature, the children were enjoying what appeared to be their break time. They burst into peals of spontaneous laughter whenever a photographer directed a camera, or a soldier waved, at them. In a classroom, others noisily repeated phrases in Portuguese, after their teacher. A first time visitor would not know that this was an abandoned ghost village, a few months ago, before its residents returned. Thousands of civilians fled from their villages in Mozambique’s northernmost Province, Cabo Delgado, when armed extremists linked to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) struck in October 2017. According to reports, in April and November 2020, the terrorists beheaded more than 100 people in the entire Province. On March 24, 2021, two weeks before Rwandan security forces got involved, the terrorists seized Palma, a town on the northeast coast of Mozambique, and just about 55 kilometers north of Mute village. In Palma, the terrorists murdered dozens of civilians and displaced more than 35,000 of the town's 75,000 residents. Escola Primaria Completa de Mute now hosts about 600 kids, cared for by four local volunteers. In primary one, Daudo Alberto Binasse, 27, contends with 274 kids. Unqualified, or inexperienced for the job, Binasse is overloaded because of the absence of competent teachers but he won’t stop coming to help out at the school. He is committed, knowing that what he is doing is the right thing to do for his community. It is not an easy job, like someone else might think, but again, it is not difficult either because I strive to do my very best. These are our children. I care about their safety and care. Level one kids are the most difficult. You can be teaching some here, and on the other side, they are running about making noise.” This is my only way of giving back to my community which has suffered so much. When the terrorists attacked the school stopped operating as everyone fled. Many people were killed. The residents of Mute started streaming back in November 2021. In July 2022, the returnees decided to carry on with their normal lives. The small village of about 500 people, on the road connecting Palma to Mocimboa da Praia, is in the Rwanda security forces zone of control where the terrorists were crushed. Our role here is to ensure that these kids don't forget to be children. We are staying with them until next year when, if God wills, the government of Mozambique will send teachers here to carry on with work as it should be,” Binasse said. Before the terrorists wreaked havoc Binasse made ends meet transporting people and merchandise on his motorbike. When all hell broke loose the terrorists caused chaos, and also stole my bike. The father of three – a nine-year-old girl and two boys; six years and three months old, respectively – only wishes to see his family safe and living in peace. “We pray for stability,” he said, adding: “The terrorists are animals...barbaric. our single wish is that we never see, or hear about, their brutal killings again,” Binasse said. Across the tarmac road, about 300 meters from the school, villagers gathered under a huge tree hiding from the scorching sun. Abdulgane Pedro, Chefe do Gabinete do Administrador of Palma district, was wrapping up a meeting with locals. He had come to listen to their problems, he told The New Times before he boarded his pickup truck and sped off to Palma. These people fled from war and now they are back. They have issues that must be addressed,” he said. Asked what major issues were highlighted in the meeting, Pedro said: They want schools to start. But you know, this is a lost year already and we shall properly resume schools in January next year (2022).” Pedro acknowledged that there are “huge challenges” as hundreds of people returned home to find houses, water and electricity systems, schools and hospitals vandalized. We are rebuilding our hospitals too. We thank FADM [the Mozambique Armed Defence Forces] and the Rwandan military who have really worked well together so that we have peace and security. But not all hope is lost, he remarked, with a soft partly suppressed chuckle. Vehicles are now moving; from here to Pemba and onwards, to Mueda and back without problems,” Pedro said, also noting that the Mozambican army now also regularly conducts its own feira de saúde, a health fair akin to the medical outreach programme done by the Rwanda security forces in the region. Inside the village, residents are happy but restless. They know that the terrorists, whose reported aim was to make the Province an Islamic state, still cause chaos or destruction, or both, in neighboring districts such as Nangade and Macomia, which are outside the Rwanda security forces area of responsibility. The Rwandans, along with host nation forces, operate in Palma-Mocimboa da Praia districts which they are now working to stabilize after more than 130,000 internally displaced persons returned to their villages. Vicente Cassiano, 63, and his spouse, Janeta Filipo, are striving to rebuild from scratch, after returning to Mute, from Mueda district where they had taken refuge. The family has two children in the school. They keep praying, Filipo said, that “things don’t decline” again. “I fled with my family to Mueda. We spent three days on the way with hunger and no water until we arrived in a village called Kintu. Someone there prepared porridge for us and we continued our journey up to Mueda through Ntamba. In Mueda we were taken to a government camp and supported until we heard that back home, in Mute, peace had returned,” Cassiano said, looking so forlorn as he leaned on the wall of his renovated mud hut. “We returned when we heard that the Rwandan army had arrived and helped secure our village. We thank the Rwandans. We now sleep without any worry. And we thank our government for bringing Rwandan forces to help our country. We thank them and hope they don't leave soon.” Just like her husband, Filipo was also born and raised in the village. She said: “My father and uncle were killed. We ran to Mueda but encountered so many challenges. Now, even though we still worry about the extremists, we are hopeful. Our children go to school and we can go to our shambas, eat and sleep at least.
