“Kobe the other Far West of faceless killers”

Paulo Vilanculo "

“Kobe Far West”It is a metaphor for an imaginary world of an outlaw territory like in the Wild West, a symbolic title that directly dialogues with a portrait of a city where people kill in the street and where human life is worth less than the secrets that are carried in a suitcase. This reflection comes in light of the fateful death of a Mahindra driver who was riddled with bullets in the middle of the public road in the Kobe neighborhood in the city of Matola. The shooting in the Kôbe neighborhood of Matola raises profound questions about urban security and impunity, where the use of Mahindras is a symbol of power and privilege. The pattern of the operation to murder the Mahindra driver raises doubts, as it appears that this was not just a common robbery. After he was killed, witnesses interviewed by TV Sucesso on the reporter program reported that unidentified individuals hurriedly removed a suitcase from the vehicle and disappeared. There was no theft of personal belongings, the target was clear, with the action taking place over time and the suitcase being taken without being found, which may presumably contain the key to understanding the real motivations: documents? Money? Evidence? On the other hand, the always late arrival of the Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM), when the events occurred within a radius of the crime, deepens the mystery even further. The murder of the Mahindra driver is part of a dark pattern already known in Mozambique. Emblematic cases such as that of Carlos Cardoso, an investigative journalist, Siba-Siba Macuácua, Julius Cistac, a lawyer, Elvino Dias, a social critic, and prosecutor Marcelino Vilanculos, all tragic cases involving executions with precise and impersonal methods, whether by AKM rounds or 9mm pistol shots, have common features like this crime. In Mozambique, the Mahindra carries more than just metal and wheels, as it is often associated with high-ranking civil servants, state mobility projects or figures close to power circles. For many, the Mahindra is a passport to impunity in urban areas. But today, in Kobe, this symbol of authority has not served as a shield. It is absolutely crucial to understanding the hidden pattern behind what appear to be isolated incidents, but which, in the light of time and repetition, reveal a modus operandi of silencing by bullets in Mozambique. In the case of Siba-Siba, he was resisting the fraudulent restructuring of bank debts. In the case of Cardoso, he was investigating money laundering and state fraud. What was in Kobe's suitcase? Are there any signs of a real motivation to cover up traces of corruption, embezzlement, parallel networks or internal blackmail? Although Mozambique seems to live in a cycle where anyone who questions or confronts hidden interests risks being shot to death, from this perspective, looking at selective violence and calculated targeting, perhaps the target knew too much, bothered or threatened hidden interests. The removal of the suitcase after the murder suggests that the contents it contained were worth more than the victim's own life, as in several previous cases, documents and evidence disappeared with the dead. The assassination occurs at a time of high social or political tension: post-elections, corruption scandals, repression, allegations of influence peddling, constitutional reforms or power struggles within institutions, a climate of protests, in the State apparatus. It seems that the bullet presents itself as a tribunal for those who disturb, die. Those who investigate, disappear. And those who give orders never have a name or face. The bullet is almost synonymous with a dead file. The murder of the Mahindra driver in Kobe is not just a common crime; it is yet another point on a map of blood and silence. It is a portrait of a city where people kill in the street and human life is worth less than the secrets carried in a suitcase. Whether this crime is the result of internal disputes, an agreement between hidden factions or an attempt to cover up traces of corruption, time will tell.

2025/12/3