The Cabo Delgado gas projects seem to be playing a puzzle game with families they have displaced for their onshore infrastructure, creating confusion between communities and increasing tension in a region where people are highly vulnerable. Since November, multiple demonstrations were held by different communities over a tangle of complaints [1].
Thousands of people suffered physical and economic displacement in 2019, when at least 8 communities were affected by resettlement related to the Mozambique LNG gas project and its infrastructure. Resettlement activities were interrupted when force majeure [2] was declared for Mozambique LNG in 2021 because of regional violence, and resumed in 2023.
Since then, the company has tried to claim land in one community, then another, with agreements signed with some families, and others seeing their fields destroyed by roads without any agreements – verbal or written. Hundreds of affected families remain in a state of uncertainty about their rights to their own land, adequate compensation, the rights they have over the replacement land allocated to them and other violations of the rights to land and resettlement [3].
The Afungi gas site covers around 7,000 ha of land on the Afungi peninsula and is intended to house huge LNG processing facilities and support infrastructure. The land use rights are shared by Mozambique LNG project, led by TotalEnergies, and Rovuma LNG project, led by Exxon-Mobil and ENI. TotalEnergies is understood to be leading the resettlement process on behalf of both projects.
These projects are planned in a region of Mozambique that has been experiencing high levels of tension due to a violent insurgency since 2017 [4] and alleged threats to civilians related to increased militarization in the region [5]. Many communities have been displaced several times due to the conflict, thousands of people have been directly injured by the violence, and many have since resettled in other communities [6]. Extreme weather events worsen people’s vulnerability [7].
In 2023, 171 families from Quitupo and 36 families from Patacua were resettled and since then, TotalEnergies has claimed that the resettlement and compensation processes are complete [8]. However, even in its “model village” of Quitunda, there is constant discontent. It is important to determine whether resettlement only means giving people houses or whether it includes handing over fields and other benefits that were promised during public consultations and community meetings some ten years ago. More than 1,000 families are waiting to receive compensation land for the fields that were taken by the project – including families from Quitunda and Maganja – and cannot grow food for their families.
The resettlement village of Quitunda, within the Afungi gas zone, was where the resettled families received replacement houses. The community protested for the first time on December 21, 2024, demanding a resolution to their concerns. In mid-March 2025, while the US EXIM Bank was confirming US public funds to this project [9], the Quitunda families were asking TotalEnergies representatives – not gently – to abandon a meeting due to their strong dissatisfaction with the company’s offers, and a protest presence was again established at the gates of the Afungi gas site. At the end of March, Quitunda protested again for three days.
The families of Quitunda are seeking a solution for the replacement of agricultural land, a food subsidy to be paid to families who have not yet received land, adequate employment for the local population, the allocation of an expansion zone for young families and the construction of a soccer pitch. Some families have not received motorcycles for transportation, which is extremely important for their livelihoods.
In the community of Maganja, the company took land for infrastructure with agreement that compensation land would be provided in surrounding areas, but now they are discussing new agreements for land to be allocated in new areas.
After two weeks of incredibly courageous protests in November 2024, the communities of Macala and Mangala were finally received by TotalEnergies and negotiations continued for several weeks. An agreement was reached according to which some families would receive their land back, in addition to cash compensation that could be used to recover fields that were destroyed by the opening of roads and land compaction, and others would be invited to sign agreements and receive compensation.
However, some families from Macala and Mangala reported in March that they had found signs on their land with the names of the families from Quitunda, indicating that the land had been taken by the company to allocate to the resettled families. They report that they feel disrespected by the fact that the company is allocating land that they are still using, which has not been mapped and which they have not agreed to give up.
The Mangala families reported in March that the company had informed them that they would not be paid any compensation – apparently because the company had already spent money relocating the refugee communities in Quitunda [10]. The Monjane community was also informed that their land, which was given to the company under agreement, would now be returned and no compensation would be paid for their losses.
Currently, the communities of Monjane and Mangala say they are completely disgusted and refuse to have any more meetings with the company or the government. In Macala, there is no clarity on the state of negotiations, since the process of signing the agreements has been interrupted.
In Nsemo, most families have already signed agreements with the company and expect the disbursement of compensation to begin soon. In Senga, progress has been made on the construction of a road that was promised years ago, but other concerns related to compensation are being completely ignored.
For Palma sede, the resettlement committee reports that no progress has been made, and members of the committee say they feel excluded from the new phase of discussions between the project, the government and the communities of Afungi, as they have concerns that are not being properly addressed.
The resettlement process has many flaws – there is a lack of clear information about the different stages of the process, a lack of respect for the opinions, suggestions and requests of communities, and a failure to meet deadlines regarding agreements with and commitments to communities. The power imbalance between communities and gas companies is clear, as well as the potential for abuse – as evident in the proposed agreements, which impose sanctions on communities for non-compliance, but no sanctions on TotalEnergies. The chaos surrounding the resettlement processes indicates that the needs of communities are undervalued by TotalEnergies and the Mozambican government.
Currently, no communities are protesting. Justiça Ambiental continues to support the communities in presenting their demands to TotalEnergies and the government.
Notes
[1] Centro para Democracia e Direitos Humanos, 17 January, 2025, Comunidade de Maganja resiste a intimidacao e exige justica nas-compensacoes prometidas pela TotalEnergies.pdf; Carta de Moçambique, 10 December 2024, TotalEnergies quase a resolver novas reivindicações de compensação em Afungi – Carta de Moçambique
[2] TotalEnergies, 2021. Total declares Force Majeure on Mozambique LNG project (press release)
[3] Say no to gas in Mozambique! Campaign. 15 November 2024. The land belongs to Mozambicans, not France.
[4] Cabo Ligado conflict observatory monitors political violence in Mozambique; Human Rights Watch, 2024, World Report 2024: Mozambique
[5] Amnesty International. 2021. What I saw is death: war crimes in Mozambique’s forgotten Cape; Politico, 26 September 2024. ‘”All must be beheaded”: Allegations of atrocities at French energy giant’s African stronghold’; Le Monde Afrique. 24 November 2024. TotalEnergies savait que des exactions etaient commises sur son site gazier au mozambique; and SourceMaterial. 24 November 2024. “Don’t look back or we’ll shoot”
[6] UNICEF, 03 March 2025, Mozambique Humanitarian Situation Report No. 3; ReliefWeb, 16 January 2025, Regional Displacement – Mozambique Situation;
[7] ReliefWeb, 25 April 2025, Tropical Cyclone Jude Humanitarian Response, as of 25 April 2025; UNOCHA, 31 March 2025, Tropical Cyclones (Chido, Jikeledi and Jude) Humanitarian Response.pdf
[8] TotalEnergies, 31 March 2025, Universal Registration Document 2024
[9] US EXIM, 19 March 2025, Exim Board Directors Votes Proceed
[10] At the height of the war in Palma, families from Mocímboa da Praia and other parts of Palma sought refuge in Quitunda. When the project resumed in 2023, Total supported the relocation of these families displaced by the war, with transport.