KEY POINTS
- TotalEnergies denies any knowledge of alleged killings by soldiers at the Mozambique LNG site.
- The project has been suspended since Islamist attacks in early 2021.
- TotalEnergies faces a criminal complaint in Paris over its evacuation procedures.
TotalEnergies has denied claims about torture and killings of civilians by Mozambican soldiers at its Mozambique LNG project site. Some sources claimed that government soldiers took and killed between 180 and 250 men on the ground between July and September 2021. The allegations were revealed by survivors and a worker at the gas plant, according to Politico.
TotalEnergies negated these claims, as the company is one of the key investors in the $20 billion gas project with a 26.5% stake. Reacting to the publication, the company stated, “We wish to affirm that before the author of this article contacted TotalEnergies, the company had never been provided with any details concerning the said events.”
The company also noted it had cleared the site in April 2021 due to nearby Islamist attacks and that the area was handed over to the Mozambican public security forces.
Project frozen since 2021 Islamist attacks
According to Reuters, in March 2021, the aggression of Islamist militants located near the Afungi LNG site led to the cessation of works by TotalEnergies and the declaration of force majeure. This led to the company’s employees withdrawal by April 2, 2021. The project was left, and none of them were back to it until late 2021.
The company and its partners, such as Japan’s Mitsui and Mozambique’s state-run ENH, said that they had no information of the alleged event and never reported any events indicating that the activities occurred.
It was also stated that its operations involved cooperation with NGOs to deliver humanitarian aid to the affected populations.
Criminal complaint filed against TotalEnergies
Nevertheless, the company has denied the allegations, as there is a criminal complaint against TotalEnergies at the moment in Paris. The allegation is that the company did not safeguard subcontractors in the face of Islamist aggression and evacuation. The company denies these allegations as being true and insists that it has not engaged in any wrongdoing.
While Mozambique grapples with ongoing jihadist assaults, TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné holds out optimism for reviving the project. Nevertheless, this is expected to happen after the country’s presidential elections, slated for October 2024.
