Amanda Dimande 1 Mozambican Studies

Operation Production, Good or Bad?

In 1983, the Mozambican government introduced a program to relocate and move unemployed people or marginais. It was called operation production. After the IVth Frelimo congress, the government thought that these people were harming the economical state of the government so they were sent up north to farms to produce food. Many people assume that this was a violation of human rights and was definitely not okay. On the other hand, others think that it was a good step for the country and provided the country with the security it lacked. I think that operation production wasnt a great idea not only because it forced people out of their homes but also because it did not achieve what it was initially meant to. Operation Production was started in Beira and was meant to be a permanent program. The first process of the program was to do a house-to-house search throughout cities. Citizens were expected to have the proper documentation confirming that they were allowed to be in the city. If not, they were taken away with police officers. This lasted until 1988 when the Catholic Church put a halt to the process. Newspapers were all over the topic at the time and constantly wanted to hear the publics opinion. The majority of the people were unhappy with this although many politicians and government officials thought that it was very convenient. Why was it good? Mozambicans thought that this program was the best thing to happen to post-colonial Mozambique. At the time, Mozambique was trying to build a government and create an organized governmental system. The idea of taking all the useless people in major cities to work in fields came years before Samora Machel gave his COMICIO speech. In 1975, over 2,500 prostitutes & homeless were taken to court to justify their place in the country. But only in 1982 was the resident card introduced to the country. People thought that it would reduce the marginalidade in the country, which meant that it would reduce the amount of people who were not working and helping the country. People viewed this program as a positive thing because it reminded the Mozambican citizens about the importance in having an identity card and birth certificates. It added some kind of discipline to the country and its civilians. At the time, there was an abundance of people still living in the country that were unemployed. In order for the country to grow, they needed to move all these people to a place where they could work with the minimum education and still help the country. In 1983, Samora Machel made a very popular speech about the program called the COMICIO. The problem with this program was that people were taken there against their will. Police officers would literally come knocking at the doors of citizens to check if they all had the correct documentation needed. Instead of helping the country, the program really just created a lot of unnecessary commotion. Mozambicans were stopped on the streets on a daily basis and were taken away if they didnt have the right papers with them. At one point, a man was shot dead for trying to run away from the police. This program affected 50-100 thousand people. Another problem that arose because of the program was that it became unclear to the people who would be allowed to get these cards. In 1982, prostitutes were taken to

court for their work on the streets but other people such as witchdoctors were outraged that they couldnt get their own cards. July 4th 1983 was the last day that they had to get their documents lined up or else they would be forcibly removed which could be a violation of the Human Rights laws. Operation Production was one of the reasons so many Mozambicans fled to Malawi to find jobs and to improve their life. The second phase of this project was to get all of the people who were caught to go to Beira. They were set there to be farmers and produce crops to help the country. This wasnt the case when they arrived. They were literally sent to the middle of nowhere in Beira and were expected to make a living. The plan failed and after the death of Samora Machel, these people were allowed to go back to where they came from. In conclusion, I think that Operation Production was a bad idea because of all the bad consequences that it came with. It was very disorganized and had a lack of leadership. It was very different from a concentration camp and was a poor effort at Mozambique trying to improve its economy.

Bibliography

"Operao Produo Forou Milhares De Pessoas s "machambas" Em Moambique." DW.DE. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Nov. 2013. "MHN: Operao Produo." MHN: Operao Produo. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Nov. 2013.