Media: The law guarantees freedom of speech and press in Mozambique, however, the government sometimes restricts these rights in practice. The media is a key player in the fight against corruption in Mozambique, and according to Freedom House 2011, local journalists have played an important role by investigating and exposing corruption cases involving high-profile corruption cases. Nevertheless, many of these journalists are subject to threats and intimidation by officials and the Carlos Cardoso murder case in 2000 illustrates that practising critical journalism is indeed dangerous in Mozambique. Defamation of the president is illegal by law and according to Freedom House 2010, libel laws have been used to prosecute critical journalists, and many journalists admitted that self-censorship is a common practice. Moreover, there were several cases of harassment of journalists throughout 2009, primarily committed by political supporters intimidating journalists that they perceived to favour political rivals. According to the US Department of State 2010, the government does not restrict internet use; however, opposition leaders have alleged that government intelligence agents monitored e-mail. Reporters without Borders 2010 ranks Mozambique 98th out of 178 countries in relation to press freedom, while Freedom House 2011 ranks Mozambique 90th out of 196 countries and describes the country's press environment as 'partly free'.

Civil Society: Civil society in Mozambique is generally considered to be relatively free. NGOs are also free to operate within Mozambique, but they have to register with the government. According to the Bertelsmann Foundation 2010, a strong network of civil society organisations has yet to develop in the country. CSOs often rely on donor's economic support and are in general ineffective in empowering people and representing citizen's interests. An increasing number of private interest groups monitoring the government are reportedly taking form, but they are still far too weak to put real pressure on government decisions. Moreover, many of the CSOs have been established by individuals with close ties to the ruling party. On the other hand, Freedom House 2011 reports that NGOs such as the Centre for Public Integrity (Centro de Integridade Pública Mozambique, CIP) have played an important role in investigating and exposing corruption cases. Hence, Global Integrity 2007 evaluates CSOs in Mozambique as ‘strong’, and states that CSOs can in practice operate freely on the condition that high ranking officials and their close ties do not feel threatened.

Centre for Public Integrity of Mozambique (Centro de Integridade Pública Mozambique, CIP): The CIP is a non-profit and non-partisan organisation established with the aim of promoting integrity, transparency, ethics and good governance in the public sphere, and promoting human rights in Mozambique. The CIP has conducted studies of corruption within specific sectors in Mozambique, for example, in the health sector, the education sector and the judicial system, which are accessible at its website.

Associaçao de Comércio e Indústria (ACIS): ACIS is a non-profit association founded in 2000 with the aim of promoting investment and development in Mozambique, and of establishing links between government and the private sector in the interests of improved dialogue and economic development. ACIS has produced a very useful toolkit for companies to avoid corruption and is involved in advocacy work in a range of areas relevant for companies. Useful information on investing in Mozambique can be found at the website of ACIS, which includes, among other things, links and guides to laws and regulations.

Ética Moçambique (in Portuguese): Ética Moçambique is a non-profit association established in August 2001 with the aim of promoting public integrity and ethics, and of fighting corruption. An example of a successful initiative is Ética Moçambique, which has launched its own anti-corruption campaign and contributed to the World Bank Governance and Anti-Corruption Diagnostic Survey 2005. Ética Moçambique has been a driving force behind the setting up of anti-corruption centres in Mozambique's provincial capitals, where people can anonymously report incidences of corruption, and also runs a civic education campaign to help citizens identify and protect themselves against corrupt officials or activities. Norway, Sweden, Finland, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, Switzerland and the United States are major donors to Ética Moçambique. The organisation has a reporting mechanism, called Linha Verde (800 800 900), through which citizens can report cases of corruption. Read more about Ética Moçambique here.