Individual Corruption

The widespread of corruption amongst the police force is illustrated in Afrobarometer 2008, in which more than one-third of households surveyed believe that 'some' police are corrupt.

According to the US Department of State 2010, police officers often demand identification papers just to extort payments, and that crime victims avoid seeking police assistance as they expect to be asked for bribes and do not trust that the police will help. The Heritage Foundation 2011 also mentions that corruption and extortion by police are pervasive, and the impunity of police officers remains a serious problem. Similarly, the news agency Information Agency of Mozambique reports on several cases in 2009 and 2010 in which traffic police officers have extorted or demanded bribes from motorists.

Business Corruption

Companies surveyed by the World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report 2010-2011 report that the police cannot be relied upon consistently to enforce law and order. This is further corroborated by the World Bank & IFC Enterprise Surveys 2007, which reveals that more than one-third of the surveyed companies pay for security in Mozambique, while an equal part identifies crime, theft and disorder as major constraints on business operations in the country.

Political Corruption

The Police for Criminal Investigation (PIC) agency has the mandate to investigate corruption cases, however, it is itself frequently accused of high levels of theft and embezzlement, and PIC officers have been transferred to other departments in order to prevent them from completing investigations of cases which could implicate high-ranking government officials, as reported by the USAID Corruption Assessment 2005. Nevertheless, according to Global Integrity 2007, in practice, the law enforcement officials enjoy some protection from criminal investigations. Generally, the law enforcement agencies are not protected from political interference, and appointments are often based on criteria other than professional, such as party loyalties.

According to Bertelsmann Foundation 2010, organised crime networks are acknowledged by public officials and the Minister of Interior to be linked to police cadres. This is supported in a January 2009 article by AllAfrica, reporting that five police officers from the Maputo City Police, one of them a PIC officer, were arrested for allegedly supplying weapons to local gangs in exchange for a share of the proceeds of their criminal activities.

Frequency

World Economic Forum: The Global Competitiveness Report 2010-2011:
- Business executives give the reliability of the police services to enforce law and order a score of 3.7 on a 7-point scale (1 being 'cannot be relied upon at all' and 7 'can always be relied upon').

Afrobarometer: Summary of Results Mozambique 2008:
- 34% of citizens responding to a survey believe that 'some' police officers are corrupt, 20% state that 'most' of them are corrupt and 10% state that 'all' of them are corrupt.

- 44% of citizens surveyed state that they trust the police 'a lot', 15% state that they 'somewhat' trust them and 15% state that they do not trust them at all.

The World Bank & IFC: Enterprise Surveys 2007:
- More than 34% of companies surveyed pay for security.

- More than 33.5% of companies identify crime, theft and disorder as major constraints to doing business in the country.