ULTRA-COLONIALISM
IN   MOZAMBIQUE
By   Franz j.   I.   Lee
PORTUGUESE colonisation of
Mozambique began at the beginning of the 16th century, in 1505,
on his voyage to India, Almeida
had set up a factory at Sofala on
the east coast of Africa. He also
built a fortress at Kilwa. In 1507 a
fortress and factory were built on
Mozambique island. h\ 1531 and
1544 Sena and Quelimane were
founded, respectively. Portugal
hoped to discover important sources
of gold and silver in thc African interior. However, neither metal was
ever found in substantial quantities,
hence Portuguese penetration of the
hinterland' was limited- and ephemeral.
By 1700 only tiie Zambezi valley
as far as Tete had been occupied.
Portuguese population along the
coast did not exceed 1,000. With the
collapse of the spice trade and the
Asian empire, the Portuguese lost
interest in the East Coast. The whole
area declined, the interior and the
coast of Sofala became deserted. By
1810 thc Portuguese coastal occupation was the same as in 1600, consisting of forts and trading posts
from Ibo to Lourenco Marques.
GREAT SCRAMBLE
FOR  AFRICA
Only in 1885—scarcely 80 years
ago—with the "Great Scramble for
Africa'' by the great imperialist
European powers did Portugal become seriously interested in Mozambique again. Below, we arc analysing what happened in these 80 years
thereafter and the events that led
to the present terror and slavery.
From 1895 to 1896, a campaign
under Antonio Enes and Mousinho
de Albuquerque reduced Gazaland
in Southern Mozambique. In 1897
Coutinho occupied the coastal area
north of Quelimane. In 1902 to
1904, the Zambesia Company
"pacified" the area from Tete to
Nyasaland frontier. In 1906 the
northern   sector   opposite   Mozam
bique Island was subdued. In a
series of campaigns from 1908 to
1912 the Yao tribes oil Lake Nyasa
were brought under control. This
ends the period of military conquest.
Till 1890, the major vector of the
new imperialism, the chartered
company, was almost non-existent
in Portuguese Africa. From 1891
onwards concessionary companies
did exist in Mozambique. By 1900
thc Mozambique Company (1891),
the Niassa Company (1891-93) and
the Zambesia Company, between
them controlled two-thirds of Mozambique's economy. These companies were very small in comparison
with their English or German counterparts in Africa. At this time thc
Portuguese economy was archaic
and bankrupt. It was scarcely
touched by the commercial and industrial expansion of Western
Europe in the  19th- century.
It could not convert an extractive
to a transformer imperialism. This
factor is the root determinant of the
present  Portuguese colonics.
About 1930, the white and
mestizo population of Mozambique
were 17,800 and 8,350 respectively.
The total population was about
3,500,000. From 1940 onwards emigration figures began to show a
m a j o r Increase : 1940—27,500;
1950—48,000:   1960-80,000.
From 1950 onwards some 5,000
families have been settled at Guiga
in the Limpopo valley. These
settlers received up to a total of 10
acres per family and some 60 acres
of non-irrigated land for grazing
purposes from the Government, in
order to raise the living standards
of the Europeans. At present there
arc about 12,000,000 Africans in
Mozambique.
Missionary activity was carried
on mainly by Portuguese Dominicans. Despite intensive campaigns,
proselytisation was wholly ineffective and .ephemeral. In 1825 there
were just 10 priests and of these
seven were Goans.   By 1850   there
were just four along the coast and
not a single missionary in the
interior. Towards 1900 there was an
influx of foreign missionaries—main
ly German friars, French Montfort
and Salesian fathers, and Italian
Consolate friars. I hese missionaries
were supported by Portugal in their
campaign of bringing the Christian
religion to the natives and "barbaric
races". Thc African had to be civilised to become an obedient slave,
at the same time making sure that
he does not become competent or
initiative. Today the Salazar regime,
under the oflicial rubric of "Faith,
Family, Toil", is intensely Catholic.
In 1950 Mozambique had 210,000
Catholics and 60,000 Protestants
(census ligures). A third of. the
Christian community is thus heretical, despite thc non-existence of
any Protestant minority in Portugal.
In 1957 there were 310 Catholic and
200 Protestant priests (or ministers).
Missionary activity is a symptom
of a wider clan. At the dawn of
European Imperialism Vasco da
Gama said: kT seek Christians and
spices". Ever since, missionary
activity has always been one dimension of thc total colonial enterprise
and as such suggestive of all the
others.
EDUCATION
In *1956 out of a total population
of 6,000,000 (census figures, although this figure was probably
much higher) only 284,000 (including whites) received education. In
1945 there were 183,092 pupils in
rudimentary schools, being reserved
almost exclusively for Africans
only. Of these just 3,595 took thc
final examination (after three years)
and of them 2,774 passed. In" 1955
there were 212,428 pupils in Catholic rudimentary schools, of these
only 2,761 passed to continue their
education in the primary schools.
In 1954 there were 120 Africans
in commercial, industrial and secondary schools in thc whole of Mozambique. In the elite Liceu—thc
preparatory school for university
level—there were 5 Africans and
800 white students; no African has
ever completed the whole Liceu
course. There is no university in
•Portuguese Africa. All higher edu-
MARCH/APR1L,  1964     37