Mozambique: Nyusi was in Rwanda"for a few hours", met Kagame in Kigali - Photos
Notícias (File photo) / Nyusi’s last visit to Gorongosa was in mid-February, and, for the first time, he announced that the outline to a solution to the military questions had been found “unconditionally” in his discussions with Dhlakama then.
Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi declared on Friday that the shape of an agreement on military questions, as part of the quest for definitive peace, was identified unconditionally during his final meeting with the late leader of the Renamo rebels, Afonso Dhlakama, at his base in the central district of Gorongosa.
Speaking at a rally in the northern port city of Nacala, Nyusi said “We had already overcome the differences with the late Renamo leader and we had defined the real priorities of the Renamo soldiers, because we were aware that it was a question of ending a process, not of beginning e new one”.
Nyusi and Dhlakama had been negotiating since late 2016, when Dhlakama announced a truce in Renamo’s low level insurgency. The truce has held with no significant violations. The two leaders set up working groups, one dealing with decentralisation, and the other with military issues – namely the dismantling of the Renamo militia and the integration of its members either into the defence and security forces, or back into civilian life.
Nyusi and Dhlakama meet again (in Namadjiwa, today), to discuss Renamo disarmament – Mozambique
Nyusi and Dhlakama address military issues – Mozambique
Nyusi’s last visit to Gorongosa was in mid-February, and, for the first time, he announced that the outline to a solution to the military questions had been found “unconditionally” in his discussions with Dhlakama then.
He insisted that the demobilisation and disarming of the Renamo militia, and the reintegration of its members, will happen “because it is not merely decentralisation that will guarantee peace in Mozambique”.
To prolonged applause, Nyusi stressed that he remains determined to bring the negotiations to a successful conclusion “until the Mozambican people really feel at peace”.
He spoke at length to the crown about the constitutional amendments on decentralisation, which were passed unanimously by the Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, on Thursday and which, for the first time, will allow the indirect election of provincial governors and district administrators. “The conditions have now been established for our young democracy to take an enormous step forward”, he declared.
Nyusi said the fact that the constitutional amendments were passed by consensus “strengthens the sense of inclusion and national unity that we have always favoured”.
He made a sharp distinction between decentralisation and separatism, warning that decentralisation “must never be seen, understood or interpreted as the physical separation of one lace from the rest of the country”.
Mozambicans, he added, had reached an agreement which could serve as an example and inspiration for the African continent.
The Nacala rally also marked the commemorations of Africa Day, the 25th anniversary of the foundation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), the predecessor of today’s African Unity. The celebrations this year were held on the theme “Winning the fight against corruption: a sustainable path to Africa’s transformation”.
Nyusi said that corruption has been quietly growing, annulling the efforts of African countries, including Mozambique, to improve the well-being of their peoples. Corruption, he added, “is an assault against the good name and dignity of the continent”.
“Failure to take action against corruption carries an exorbitant price tag”, he warned, “particularly for the most vulnerable sectors of African societies, and it leaves our countries at the mercy of unacceptable blackmail”.
He recognised that governments are taking action, through such measures as legislation criminalising all acts regarded as corrupt “in order to discourage the practice and hold offenders responsible for their actions”.
Nyusi stressed that preventing and fighting corruption are not challenges solely for governments or for legal systems, “because we are all affected”.
At its summit of heads of state and government in January, the African Union declared 2018 as “African Anti-Corruption Year”, and Nyusi recalled that it was at an earlier summit, held in Maputo in 2003, that the AU had adopted a convention on the fight against corruption. That convention came into effect in August 2006 when over 37 AU member states, including Mozambique, had ratified it.
“The speed with which countries ratified the convention bears witness to their awareness of the evil that this phenomenon causes to development”, said the President. “It also reflects a genuine political commitment by the political leaders”.
Nyusi said the Mozambican government is aware of the need “to speed up the offensive in favour of greater transparency, rigour and honesty in the management of the public treasury”.
The fight against corruption, he stressed, would require more hard-hitting measures, and an attitude of “zero tolerance”, so that citizens no longer regard corruption as something normal. “We must not be complacent towards this crime”, he declared.
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